‘The Welsh Potting Machine’ Mark Williams shocks Judd Trump to reach the World Snooker Championship final where he will play Ronnie O’Sullivan’s conqueror Zhao Xintong

Mark Williams is on course to land his fourth World Snooker Championship at the age of 50

Veteran Mark Williams shocked Judd Trump to reach the World Snooker Championship final against Sheffield-based Zhao Xintong and remain on course for a fourth title.

Williams, who won the title in 2000, 2003, and 2018, secured a famous 17-14 victory against world No 1 Trump to return to a fifth Crucible final.

The Welshman will take on Zhao eight years after they faced each other in round one of the qualifying event.

Williams, who was 7-3 down earlier in the match, found himself 10-9 behind when Trump responded to losing the opening frame on Saturday morning with back-to-back breaks of 71.

However, the 50-year-old Welshman then won four of the next five frames with the aid of breaks of 73, 84 and 62, with only a superb 64 from Trump in frame 23 preventing the damage from being even worse to take a 13-11 lead heading into the evening session.

When they returned, Trump attempted to mount a fightback but Williams stayed cool to secure the four frames needed after a remarkable run to the final.

Fans refused refunds

Snooker fans have reacted angrily to being refused refunds for what was meant to be the fourth session of the semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Zhao Xintong.

Xintong’s commanding 17-7 victory was completed with a session to spare, meaning there will be no competitive action on Saturday afternoon at the Crucible.

An exhibition featuring Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor, 40 years on from the latter’s victory in their famous ‘black-ball final’, took place instead, running from 2:30pm until approximately 4pm, including a short interval.

The World Snooker Tour said its box office terms and conditions meant it was “unable to offer ticket refunds or exchanges”, news which has not gone down well with spectators expecting to see seven-time champion O’Sullivan.

The WST said in a statement: “We are putting together a fantastic exhibition this afternoon featuring all-time snooker legends.

“We realise that fans come from all over the world to enjoy the Crucible experience so our intention is to provide the best possible entertainment in these circumstances.

“This is the first time in over a decade that a semi-final has finished a session early so it is a very rare occurrence and unfortunately beyond our control.”