- German Masters
Williams fends off Selby to claim Berlin crown
ESPN staff
February 6, 2011
Mark Williams lost in the final of the last German Masters event in 1998 © Getty Images
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Mark Williams held off a late charge from Mark Selby to claim the German Masters title with a 9-7 victory in Berlin.
The world No. 3 looked to be on course for a comfortable win in the Tempodrom after storming to a 6-3 lead, and appeared to be in complete control at 7-4, but Selby dug deep to battle back to 7-7.
Two century breaks helped Williams establish a 5-3 lead at the end of the afternoon session, and he continued where he left off to extend his lead to three.
Selby reduced the deficit to two but a composed 90 from Williams put the Welshman within two frames of victory. But just as it looked to be Williams' night, Selby burst back into the match, rattling off three frames in a row to level the scores.
Both players had chances to snatch the momentum in the 15th frame, but it was Williams who held his nerve to claim victory in the first ranking event to be held in Germany in 14 years.
"I know from experience that at 7-4 you haven't won it, and I knew he was going to come back in some form and he could have quite easily done it," Williams said. "I'm just over the moon to have won a tournament at the grand old age of 36."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
