Williams in van to nail third world title after positive start

The final: session three
BBC & Eurosport, 2pm Monday

Mark Williams is 8-15 to win a third Crucible crown after taking a 10-7 halfway lead over John Higgins in their two-day Betfred World Championship final in Sheffield on Sunday.

Williams raced into a 4-0 lead but was powerless to prevent Higgins fighting back to level at 7-7. However, the Welshman then kicked on again to win the last three frames of the second session.

Higgins did the lion's share of the high scoring on day one, with three century breaks (127, 119, 117) to his name. Williams posted just one three-figure contribution with a run of 118.

But as the Northern Ireland Open and German Masters champion Williams so often does, he won the first two sessions by prospering in a lot of the scrappier frames.

Higgins is 33-20 to win 11 of a possible 18 frames that remain, but the Scot will need to turn on the potting fireworks the same way he did when fighting back to thwart Judd Trump in the last eight.

However, with Williams a more tactically astute performer than Trump, that's unlikely to prove an easy task for the four-time champion.

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