Williams - ended title drought in China.

WILLIAMS NO LONGER THE NEARLY-MAN

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Mark Williams shook off the perennial bridesmaid tag and produced a last-gasp fightback at the China Open in Shanghai to end a 17-month run without a title.

His opponent Anthony Hamilton, who arrived in China 28th in the provisional world rankings, built an 8-5 lead and Williams looked set to fall victim to a major upset.

But, on the threshold of collecting the £62,500 prize and winning his first leading tournament in 11 years as a professional, Hamilton froze.

He scored only 35 points in the following three frames and squandered two golden chances in the decider before Williams stepped in with a 63 break to finally re-enter the winner's circle.

Since prevailing at the Grand Prix at Telford in October 2000, Williams has lost five finals and a further seven semi-finals without getting his hands on a trophy.

Only last month, the 26-year-old left-hander from Ebbw Vale was edged 10-9 by Paul Hunter in the Benson & Hedges Masters final after leading 5-0.

"I know how Anthony's feeling because he should've won," said Williams, who has now won 13 professional tournaments in total, including 11 world ranking events.

"At Wembley I felt like he does now. I should've won that night and I thought I was going to lose this.

"At 8-5 it was looking really gloomy, but I knew if I put him under pressure it would be tough for him to get over the line.

"The only time I was in front in the whole match was when we were shaking hands. It's fantastic to get this burden off my back and hopefully it will give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.

"Now when I get to a final, I needn't worry about losing and I'll be able to play more fluent stuff. Mentally, I'll be stronger."

Hamilton, figuring in only his second ranking event final, was the better player for most of the day, but admitted he completely lost his nerve in the final frame.

"In that last frame I couldn't let go of the cue," he said. "I wanted it too much and it takes a lot of bottle to get over the line when there's so much at stake. I just didn't have enough.

"You think, oh hell, and start twitching. You tighten up and what was your cue-action just isn't any more. You have to try and pot balls from memory. Basically my bottle went and Mark's didn't."