Mark Williams enjoyed his snooker this week more than he has for a long while, despite an early exit from the Welsh Open in Llandudno.
The three-time world champion was in great form in his opening win over Florian Nuessle, knocking in three centuries in a 4-1 victory.
He couldn’t reproduce that level against Stephen Maguire in his next match, though, underperforming in a 4-2 loss.
Far from being downbeat, though, the 49-year-old said he really enjoyed his few days in Llandudno and it has re-energised him ahead of some huge events coming up.
‘I enjoyed it. I’m happy in one respect because the last few months I haven’t enjoyed playing at all in any venues and didn’t want to go to any,’ Williams told the BBC.
‘I only decided to come to this one on Sunday morning. So glad I did because that’s probably the worst I can play and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the first match and I haven’t enjoyed it for quite a few months now.
‘Hopefully I’ll have another couple of weeks off and come back and as long as I can keep enjoying it, the result is irrelevant to be honest.’
There was a string of shock results on Wednesday in Wales as the likes of Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen and Neil Robertson were all beaten.
Tom Ford conquered Robertson thanks to a brilliant break of 131 in a deciding frame to win 4-3.
The recent Shoot Out winner is delighted to still be going strong in Llandudno, having turned up with few expectations as he was badly under the weather ahead of the event.
‘To be honest I didn’t think I’d be this far. I was coming here this week just to pick my prize money up because I don’t feel well at all,’ said Ford.
‘Went to bed Wednesday, got out of bed Saturday morning. You can still hear it now. Every time I put my head down on the shot I feel a bit dizzy.
‘Obviously delighted to get through that match. I didn’t expect to win that last frame the way it was going. He came back to 3-3, starting cueing well, I started to feel worse, but fortunately enough he played a bad shot to let me in and I made a good break.’
Joe O’Connor was the man who ended Wilson’s hopes, with a victory over the world champion very impressive at the moment given the brilliant form the Warrior has been in.
‘It’s a great win, to beat someone of Kyren’s calibre,’ said O’Connor after a 4-3 triumph. ‘I missed a couple of easy balls but overall it was a good performance.
‘I enjoy playing on table one and trying to put on a show. I’ve still got time to finish the season well.’
Yuan Sijun beat Mark Allen while there was another impressive victory for Sanderson Lam as he beat Wu Yize 4-2 after ousting Barry Hawkins in the opening round.
Luca Brecel also continued his return to form with a fluent 4-2 win over Noppon Saengkham which saw him make two centuries and win one frame from 71 points behind.
‘My cue ball control was good,’ he said. ‘I am having fun out there and making good breaks. Hopefully more of the same tomorrow.’
Welsh Open schedule
Thursday 13 February
1pm
Jackson Page vs Tom Ford
John Higgins vs Yuan Sijun
3pm
Sanderson Lam vs Stephen Maguire
Matthew Stevens vs Joe O’Connor
7pm
Mark Selby vs Jamie Jones
Ryan Day vs Ali Carter
9pm
Pang Junxu vs Luca Brecel
Matthew Selt vs Jack Lisowski
