Williams - victorious at Telford (Allsport).

GRAND PRIX

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Mark Williams held off a determined challenge from Ronnie O'Sullivan to scoop the £62,000 first prize in the Grand Prix at Telford.

The 25-year-old Welshman built a 7-2 lead over the "Rocket" but was made to sweat by O'Sullivan before wrapping up a 9-5 victory.

O'Sullivan won three frames in a row to close to 7-5 at the last interval but World champion Williams held on to claim the final two frames for his third title of the year.

"I'm over the moon to have held on and won," Williams said. "The way Ronnie came back he didn't look like he'd miss.

"I was just glad there was an interval because he could have won every frame the way he was going.

"There was a lot of pressure out there but I handled it really well. I played solidly throughout the Tournament but it was nice to produce the goods when it became nail-biting stuff towards the end."

Williams made breaks of 44 and 50 to account for the opening frame of the evening session and extend his winning streak to six frames for a 7-2 lead.

But O'Sullivan, successful against Williams in the finals of the Regal Scottish Open and Champions Cup this year, then hit his stride.

The World number four, who rises to a provisional second on the ranking list despite the defeat, made a break of 95 to stop the rot and reduce his deficit to 7-3, and further contributions of 45 and 56 cut the arrears to only three frames.

Williams appeared to be heading for a four-frame cushion when he pieced together a run of 50 in the 12th frame but O'Sullivan fashioned a gutsy 74 break to go into the last interval only 7-5 down.

But Williams raised his game when it mattered and crucial runs of 44 and 56 gave him the last two frames for victory.

"It could have been a different story when I started to come back but Mark played really well," O'Sullivan said.

"Even at 6-2 down, I still fancied my chances where as last year it would have been 9-2 because I would have got frustrated.

"But you can't afford to struggle against Mark because he takes advantage of all your mistakes.

"I'll take the positives from this, though. I won the Champions Cup and have got to the final here and although I would have liked to have picked up another trophy, you can't have it all."

The victory gives Williams his 10th World ranking title, putting him fourth on the all time list behind Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and John Higgins and extends his lead at the head of the world rankings to over 12,000 points.