Williams just happy to progress

World number one Mark Williams was far from impressed with his third round victory over James Wattana at the Guild Hall in Preston today.

The Welshman, who has 14 ranking tournaments safely tucked under his belt, was off his game in a scrappy battle against his talented Thailand opponent.

But even with a highest break of 46 – and that came in the deciding frame - Williams somehow managed to hang on to book his place in the quarter-finals.

Williams, who clawed his way back having trailed 3-2, admitted: “He’s [Wattana] let me off the hook really.

“I was struggling, but when he missed, I’d just miss straight back. I shouldn’t have won the match really.”

Indeed, Wattana was guilty of missing a series of balls which would have likely led him to a shock win.

However, as it was, the Thai did not have the nerve to close out the match and Williams was left thanking his lucky stars.

He explained: “I’m glad I’ve got a chance of being here for the last week.

“You’ve got to be in it, to win it, and I’m thankful of that.

“He [Wattana] looked good when he got in, but he missed important balls and that gave me a chance.

“Somehow I’ve scraped two matches, but I’ll be on the practice table tonight trying to find some form and iron out any problems with my game.”

And Williams refuted the suggestion that being the first tournament of the year had been the cause of his stuttering start.

“It’s the first ’proper’ tournament in six months, but I didn’t play well, it’s as simple as that.

“I felt I was jabbing at a few shots, but luckily enough for me James didn’t play well either.”

Williams, who has not dropped out of the top five in the last five seasons, also stressed that he won’t be taking his next match lightly.

The Welshman will meet the winner of tonight’s clash between Barry Hawkins and Allister Carter for a place in the last four.

And he added: “I’ve not played Barry before and not played Allister much in the past, but it doesn’t matter, it should be a tough match.

“I saw Barry about 18 months ago and he looked like he was going to be good then. I’m glad to be in the last eight though, we’ll just have to see what happens now.”