Williams in ruthless mood

Mark Williams gave himself a head start against Hunter

Fired-up Mark Williams was in ruthless mood in Bangkok as he exacted revenge for his 10-9 defeat by Paul Hunter in the final of the recent Benson & Hedges Masters.

Williams took only 64 minutes to storm into the quarter-finals of the £476,000 Thailand Masters at the Merchant Court Hotel by whitewashing Hunter 5-0.

Williams, bitterly disappointed to have been edged out for the Masters crown after leading Hunter 5-0, has now won seven of their eight encounters in pro-tournaments.

Being world number one doesn't mean much to me. I just want to be world champion

Mark Williams

"It really is nice to get one back on him. I really should've beaten him at Wembley so to win 5-0 so soon afterwards is good timing for me," added the 26-year-old Welshman.

"I was always in control of the match. I'm flying."

Williams, attempting to complete a Far East double following his capture of the China Open title in Shanghai on Sunday, cleared the colours to put the first frame safe then dominated proceedings.

Hunter contributed more to the contest than at the 1999 China Open, when he scored just 16 points on the way to being hammered 5-0 by Williams, but there was never any doubt as to who would prevail.

Without putting together any breaks of note, Williams forged 4-0 ahead before he stylishly signed off a top-quality performance with a run of 130.

"I can't wait to get down to the beach to relax but there's work to be done here first," said Williams, who intends taking a holiday at a Thai coastal resort with a group of friends when his tournament is over.

Fergal O'Brien saw off the challenge of Peter Ebdon

"I'll celebrate winning in China down there and it would be great to celebrate a double."

Williams is looking to become the first player to win the Thailand Masters three times after triumphing in 1999 and successfully defending the trophy the following season.

Another title would give Williams the opportunity to overhaul Ronnie O'Sullivan at the top of the provisional list and retain his world number one spot at the end of the season.

"Being world number one doesn't mean much to me to be honest. It's not even entered my brain. I just want to be world champion," he said.

Williams goes forward to face Dubliner Fergal O'Brien, who produced arguably his best display of the campaign to oust seventh seed Peter Ebdon.

Scoring well

O'Brien, battling hard to retain his place in the elite top 16 next season, fully exploited the majority of his scoring chances to hand Ebdon an unexpectedly heavy defeat.

"You can play as well as you like in practice but it's only winning matches like this that give you a real boost," said O'Brien, who celebrates his 30th birthday tomorrow.

"If you score well like I did it just makes the job easier and takes pressure off yourself."

Ken Doherty also secured a place in the last eight, recovering from the loss of the opening two frames to beat Dave Harold 5-2.

Doherty now plays Stephen Lee, who earned his quarter-final appearance by beating Australia's Quinten Hann 5-3.