Williams - brushed Lee aside.
WILLIAMS WARY OF DOHERTY FATIGUE
By John Curtis, PA Sport
Mark Williams has insisted that the freshness factor will not give him an
advantage when he takes on comeback king Ken Doherty in the best-of-35-frames
Embassy World Championship final at The Crucible Theatre.
Williams continued his trend of comfortable victories during the 2003 event
with a 17-8 success over Stephen Lee in the semi-finals.
It means he has played only 72 frames in total on his way to his third world
final compared to the 98 that Doherty has featured in - the equivalent of an
additional match.
The Irishman went the full distance in his semi-final in coming back from 15-9
down to beat Paul Hunter 17-16.
But Williams claimed: "I don't think the way the two of us have got to the
final will be a factor.
"With the way that Ken has won this afternoon, he will be
over the moon.
"He must have thought he was out of the competition so he has got a second
bite of the cherry.
"He will be elated and really up for the final - but the
score-lines I've had have been unbelievable really.
"The scorelines suggest I have won quite easily every match. They've been
quite big margins and I've been playing quite well to be fair.
"The first session of the semi-final set the tone. To be 7-1 up is a massive
lead really. He came back in the second session and won the first four frames
and could have won a few more in that session.
"I managed to lose 5-3 which I was delighted with but I always felt in
control of the match once I got that 7-1 lead. I always felt quite
comfortable."
"I am looking forward to the final. This is what we dream about. It's the big
stage, £270,000 first prize. You haven't got to say anymore. I can't wait to get
out there and give it my best.
"I am feeling really relaxed. I am playing quite good. I've had a couple of
bad sessions but they've turned out not so bad sessions. The only session I lost
was the one to Stephen Lee.
"When you have the bad sessions you have still got to stick in there and if
you are going to lose them try not to lose them 6-2 or 7-1."
Lee admitted: "I wasn't in it today. I think the damage was done at 7-1. He's
hard to beat at the best of times but he had the run of the balls as well.
"He would have beaten anyone the way he has played and a little bit of the
rub of the green on top makes it very hard.
"It's not luck. When you play well, you get the rub of the green. I was
always playing catch-up after the first session and he's too good to be playing
catch-up.
"With the season I've had, I knew I had to do something here and put some
ranking points on the board. I'm just pleased to get something from a season
where I've not played too well."
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