FOR a man who has won everything snooker has to offer, reaching the business end of the Betfred World Snooker Championship has been a surprisingly rare occurrence for Mark Williams in recent years, writes Luke Baker.

So after beating Michael Holt on Saturday afternoon to return to the quarter-finals at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre for the first time since 2011, and just the second time in a decade, he is understandably revelling in the feeling.

The Cwm cueman overcame a slow start to his second-round clash with world No.28 Holt and successfully turned a 10-6 overnight lead into a 13-8 victory, suggesting that he has a legitimate chance to win a third world title 13 years after his second.

Yet any further success will be considered a bonus by the 41-year-old.

“I’m just happy to be here. I’m normally watching the quarter-finals in the house, so to be here and involved in them is great for me,” said Williams.

“I haven’t been here for so long that I’ll just enjoy it and if I keep playing the way I am at the moment, I’ll be tough to beat.

“I’m really pleased with how I played apart from the first session where it was a miracle that I was at 4-4 – I could easily have been 6-2 or 7-1 down – but it’s about how many frames you can pinch in a bad session. I managed to pinch four.”

Things won’t get any easier for Williams in the last-eight as he faces the winner of Ding Junhui and Judd Trump, which concludes on Monday afternoon.

Both Ding and Trump have long been tipped as future world champions and are among the favourites to lift the trophy this year but the veteran is more than happy to watch the young pretenders trade blows before the victor faces him.

“Both Ding and Judd are quality players,” added Williams. “It’s a toss of a coin who is going to win that game but I’m just glad I’m through and can watch them sweat now.”

Watch the World Championship LIVE on Eurosport, with Colin Murray and analysis from Jimmy White and Ronnie O’Sullivan.