Snooker: Williams battles to victory

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams both staged remarkable comebacks to reach the semi-finals of the UK Championship in York last night.

Williams, the World No 1, recovered from 8-4 down to beat the five-times winner Stephen Hendry 9-8, while O'Sullivan also prevailed in a decider against Peter Ebdon, having been 6-1 behind.

Hendry looked likely to be competing for back-to-back tournament victories after his European Open triumph in Malta earlier this month when he made a flying start to the evening session. The Scot had been level at 4-4 after the afternoon session and pulled away on the resumption, helped by breaks of 56, 66 and 58.

However, the seven-times world champion could not get over the finishing line and his Welsh opponent fought back to level the match again. In the decider, Williams rattled in an 83 to move through to the last four as Hendry failed to make the most of his opportunities.

"I thought I was very unlucky to be 8-4 down at the interval," Williams said. "I was still playing well and Stephen gave me some chances. The pressure was building on him and he missed a few pots."

O'Sullivan fought back to win his match with Ebdon, despite the latter taking a 6-2 lead in the first session of their quarter-final. In the second frame, Ebdon racked up a break of 136 and was set to eclipse that in the next as he looked on course for a 147. However, he struggled for position on the final red and had to settle for a 112.