World Snooker Championship: Mark Williams surges into quarter-finals as Hossein Vafaei is knocked out | Snooker News

Three-time champion Mark Williams produced some of the best form of his career to
compile six centuries and eight further breaks of 50-plus to defeat protégé Jackson Page at the Crucible, while Judd Trump eased past Iranian qualifier Hossein Vafaei

Mark Williams surged into the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship with a session to spare

Mark Williams surged into the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship, while Iranian qualifier Hossein Vafaei was knocked out by Judd Trump.

Williams won with a session to spare after wrapping up a dominant 13-3 win over his fellow Welshman and protégé Jackson Page, while Trump vowed his best is yet to come despite cruising into the second round with a 10-4 win over Vafaei.

Three-time champion Williams produced some of the best form of his career to compile six centuries and eight further breaks of 50-plus as he rendered Friday night’s scheduled concluding session obsolete.

Resuming with a 7-1 overnight advantage, Williams continued to show no mercy to 20-year-old Page, who trains at Williams’ club in Tredegar and whom he considers a close friend.

Williams was merciless to book a last-eight meeting with either Mark Selby or Yan Bingtao.

Judd Trump (left) vowed his best is yet to come despite cruising past Iranian qualifier Hossein Vafaei

The emphatic nature of Trump’s victory belied a patchy performance by the 2019 champion, who arrived at the Crucible on the back of a relatively low-key campaign that has yielded a solitary ranking title.

But the 32-year-old Trump said he is unconcerned by his slow start to the tournament and believes he is capable of stepping up a level when he faces former semi-finalist Anthony McGill in the second round next week.

“I never play well in the first round here, but normally something clicks as the tournament goes on,” said Trump.

“There were just too many easy mistakes and I don’t feel that comfortable playing out there. I just don’t feel like I’m going to clear up every time – that mentality’s not there.

“But the matches are so long here that anything can change. It gives me the chance to not play well one day, and the next match I’ll play my absolute best. It’s hard for me to play well every single time.”

Earlier, Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham completed a 10-5 win over 11th seed Luca Brecel to reach the second round at the Crucible for the second time.

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