GWENT ace Mark Williams became the first player through to the last eight last night after brushing aside Jamie Cope 13-4.

The Welsh potting machine rolled in consecutive century breaks during the second session as he built up a formidable 12-4 lead over his opponent from Stoke.

In the third session he quickly got the frame he needed and is looking like a good bet for his third World Championship title.

Williams, 36, has surprisingly only reached the last-eight stage once since landing his second Crucible title in 2003.

That was in 2006 when he lost out to Ronnie O’Sullivan, but yesterday he looked in deadly form against a shattered Cope.

He had built up a 7-1 lead on Thursday despite only having a top break of 72 and two other breaks above 50, however, when he returned yesterday morning the two-time former champion was in a mood for more.

Cope began the morning with a break of 96 to take the opening frame.

Williams was never in any trouble though and had runs of 53 and 61 before firing in 106 and 109 in back-to-back frames to lead 12-2.

It seemed inevitable he would win inside two sessions, allowing him the evening off, but Cope plucked the next two frames to avoid that humiliation.