Williams Copes Easily With Jamie
Mark Williams became the first man into the quarter finals of the 2011 Betfred.com world championship following his convincing thirteen-frames-to four win against Jamie Cope at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
The two-time champion needed just one frame of the third session of the best-of-25-frame match after Cope made breaks of 72 and 72 to win the last two frames of the second session.
Most of the damage was done yesterday morning as the Welshman stormed into a healthy 7-1 lead after the opening session.
Cope’s application and approach to the match contributing to his deficit almost as much as Williams’ sustained scoring.
With his back against the wall on Friday morning, Cope needed something special and after winning the opening frame, he and his supporter’s might have had some hope.
That was soon extinguished as the world number two restored his lead in the next and increased it by fluking the penultimate red and clearing in frame 11.
By now, the writing was firmly on the wall and it was more a case of trying to make the scoreline respectable rather than trying to pull off the most remarkable comeback in Crucible history.
The 2000 and 2003 champion made back-to-back centuries after the mid-session interval and only breaks of 74 and 72 from Cope took the match into its scheduled third session.
Williams was delighted to get through after suffering a stomach upset which disturbed his night’s sleep and now awaits the winner of the match between England’s Barry Hawkins and Northern Irishman, Mark Allen.
