MARK Williams insisted he was always confident he could be the man to end John Higgins’ outstanding run as he made it through to the last eight of the Coral Northern Ireland Open, writes Ross Lawson.

World number 16 Williams has shown good form at the tournament but found himself up against a man who had won his last 11 matches – a run which had included two wins against the Cwm cueman.

But the Scot found his purple patch lacking colour at Belfast’s Titanic Exhibition Centre, missing the spark that had seen him make a 147 in the competition.

And it was Williams who was left to profit, winning 4-1 to face Kyren Wilson today in the quarter-finals after he knocked out Ronnie O’Sullivan in a final-frame decider.

“I played John twice in China and he’s gone on to have his fantastic run, but I wasn’t far away in either of those matches,” said Welshman Williams.

“One rub of the ball at the right time can give you that.

"But he didn’t play as well as he has been and that’s a good win for me.

“We’ve played so many times before that I always knew I could do it even though he has been playing fantastically well.”

Both players struggled in a tentative opening, though Higgins drew first blood in the last-16 clash as sizeable breaks were hard to come by.

But the Scot's inconsistency proved his downfall with Williams making the most of a loose safety shot to restore parity, before going on to take a 2-1 lead - and the Gwent star never looked back.

He was clinical around the balls while capitalising on half-chances with consecutive breaks of 68 to wrap up the win.

It was a long pot early in the fifth frame that proved key, opening up the game to deny Higgins even a sniff, though he was keen to play down his chances of victory in Belfast.

“I wouldn’t have thought I'm a favourite," he added. "I haven’t won a tournament for a long time and it’s nice just to be in the quarter-finals.

“Fingers crossed I could keep the run going. My form is getting better, I’m going alright in practice and I don’t think my best form has come in the competition.

“My B-game is not always good enough now so I need to make sure I’m on it at all times.”

Watch the Northern Ireland Open live on Eurosport 1 and Quest featuring daily studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.