On January 14, 2025, the Snooker Masters continued with its matches. After Robertson and Shaun Murphy advanced, China's top player achieved victory in his first match, with Ding Junhui narrowly defeating Mark Williams 6-5 to become the third player to reach the quarter-finals. Mark Williams, who was eliminated, took home a guaranteed prize of £25,000.
Born in 1987, Ding Junhui is the leader of Chinese snooker, ranked 9th in the world. He has won 15 ranking tournament titles in his career, including four major championships (three UK Championships, one Masters). Currently, he only lacks a World Championship title. Last year, Ding Junhui defeated Chris Wakelin at home, breaking a long period of championship drought in ranking tournaments. Additionally, he has finished runner-up twice at the Masters.
His opponent, Mark Williams, born in 1975, is a Grand Slam player, currently ranked 6th in the world. Alongside O'Sullivan and Higgins, he is known as one of the 'Three Musketeers of '75'. In his career, he has won 26 ranking tournament titles, including seven major championships (three World Championships, two UK Championships, two Masters). Recently, he also defeated Xiao Guodong and won an invitational tournament. Mark Williams' playing style is clean and decisive, with high观赏性.
The Masters only invites the top 16 players in the rankings to participate, so no one is a simple opponent; they all have the ability to win, relying entirely on their own performance on the day. No one has an absolute advantage. However, looking at their past head-to-head records, Ding Junhui has a high win rate against Mark Williams. Compared to players like Trump, he at least has less psychological pressure, so fans are optimistic and hope he can win.
After the start of the match, both sides made continuous mistakes in the first game, with neither player in good form. Ding Junhui took the lead with a score of 75-36. In the second game, Mark Williams fought back, winning with a score of 72-17. In the third game, Mark Williams stopped attacking after scoring 48 points, while Ding Junhui took over and scored a single shot of 69 points. In the fourth game, Mark Williams scored a single shot of 57 points, winning the game with a score of 60-23. Judging from the accuracy, Ding Junhui was at a disadvantage.
After the mid-game break, Mark Williams scored a single shot of 70 points in the fifth game. Then Ding Junhui found his rhythm, scoring single shots of 64 and 60 points to win two consecutive games. In the eighth game, Mark Williams withstood the pressure and directly scored a single shot of 136 points. In the ninth game, Ding Junhui scored a single shot of 66 points but interrupted his attack, allowing Mark Williams to clear the table and reverse the game with a score of 67-66. Ding Junhui then steadied his mentality and returned the favor with a single shot of 76 points.
In the deciding game, both wanted to wait for the other to make a mistake, seeing who could hold their breath longer. In the end, Mark Williams made the first mistake, and Ding Junhui ended the game with a single shot of 90 points, ultimately narrowly defeating Mark Williams 6-5. This game was not easy to play, and Ding Junhui's victory over the world champion is worthy of praise.