Williams joy in Scotland

Mark Williams afforded himself a smile after reaching the last eight of the Daily Record Players Championship in Glasgow last night.

“It’s nice to be in the quarter-finals,” he said after winning the last three frames to defeat Irish Masters runner-up Mark King 5-4.

“I used to be pleased getting to finals but now I’m just happy with the quarters,” added the world number one, whose season went downhill after lifting the LG Cup last October.

Williams now plays Peter Ebdon who knocked out Glaswegian Graeme Dott 5-3.

Ronnie O’Sullivan also reached the quarter-finals after whitewashing Scotland’s Jamie Burnett 5-0 to set up a meeting with Masters champion Paul Hunter or golden oldie Steve Davis.