Hamilton outclassed by Williams

Williams has maintained his recent good form

Mark Williams completed a 10-1 rout of Anthony Hamilton to ease into the second round of the World Championship.

Wales' two-time Crucible champion had produced a devastating display to take an 8-1 lead after the Monday's first session in Sheffield.

Williams, who won the title in 2000 and 2003, needed just two more frames in Tuesday's opening session to progress.

Hamilton's only consolation was scoring the only century break of the match - a 115 run to win the fifth frame.

You can't give a four-frame start to Mark and at 6-1 I knew in my heart it was over Anthony Hamilton

Williams has been in good form recently, beating John Higgins 9-8 last month to win the China Open title, the 16th ranking title of his career but his first for three years.

The two-time world champion said he was prepared for a tough battle and he now felt more confident about having been drawn in what was supposedly the tougher half of the draw.

"It's an excellent start for me. Anthony was by far the hardest match I could have had because of his record against me - he seems to play out of his skin every time," he said.

"I never thought I could have beaten him 10-1.

"I've been told I'm in the group of death. I'm scared witless!

"But John Higgins has gone out, and now I hope Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Matthew Stevens go out and Willie Thorne (now retired) comes in!"

Hamilton was magnanimous in defeat and said he would like to see Williams do well in the tournament.

"You can't give a four-frame start to Mark and at 6-1 I knew in my heart it was over," said the 34-year-old from Nottingham.

"But it's good to see Mark playing well because he's been away too long. He's the calmest man on the planet and I love to watch him play.

"I hope he does well and it will be a good match if he meets Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals."

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M Williams (Wal) 10-1 A Hamilton (Eng)
104-0 (81) 74-26 84-0 (62) 75-9 0-115 (115) 78-22 (52) 86-30 (62) 72-47 85-19 (59) 73-4 58-2