Judd Trump denies Mark Williams to win epic second Masters title

Judd Trump battled to an epic 10-8 win over Mark Williams to claim a late night second Masters title at Alexandra Palace. It was a brilliant battle between the

left-handers in north London, with Trump taking an early lead, Williams surging back but the younger man regaining control and eventually claiming victory comfortably past

11pm. Williams would have been the oldest man to win a Triple Crown title if he had got his hands on the trophy for the third time, and looked good to do so at 8-7 up,

but Trump denied him to win the event for the second time in four years. The 33-year-old was rarely at his brilliant best throughout the tournament – beating Ryan Day,

Barry Hawkins and Stuart Bingham along the way – but showed some serious scrapping skills, and flashes of excellence to triumph. Williams started the match in

perfect fashion, knocking in a break of 138 to win the opening frame, but then strangely struggled for the rest of the first mini-session. The Welshman missed a string

of balls as he lost the next three frames before the first interval, with Trump making breaks of 61 and 106 to lead 3-1. Things got even better for the Englishman as he

made 73 to go 4-1 ahead, but Williams sstopped the rot in style in the sixth, making a round 100, and then made 60 in the next to tighten the scoreline at 4-3 in Trump’s

favour. The final frame of the first session felt big and it was Trump that took it, taking advantage of a poor safety from Williams to make 89 and lead 5-3 ahead of the

evening session.