MARK WILLIAMS has won the Xi’an Grand Prix to become the oldest player to win a ranking event.
The snooker legend blew Shaun Murphy away, winning the final 10-3.
Mark Williams is the Xi’an Grand Prix champion[/caption]
Shaun Murphy’s 13-match winning streak is over[/caption]
He raced into a 7-1 lead in the first session, showing grit as well as class with breaks of 75 and 72 in the opening two frames.
Williams followed that up with a century in the opening frame of the afternoon session, which moved him to within two frames of the win.
The Weslhamn’s victory is his 27th ranking event triumph – he is now just one behind snooker great Steve Davis.
And Williams, 50, is now the oldest player to win a ranking title – beating a record that was held by Ray Reardan for 43 years, who won the Professional Players Tournament aged 50 years and 14 days.
And in doing so he will collect £177,000 in prize money, with Murphy settling for £76,000.
Williams also ended Murphy’s brilliant 13-match winning streak.
The former world champion won the British Open, beating the likes of Judd Trump and Mark Selby, before winning six matches at the Grand Prix.
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