Snooker: Williams dispatches Drago

The Regal Welsh Open title holder Mark Williams reached the quarter- finals of the pounds 215,000 world ranking event yesterday with a 5-4 third round victory over Tony Drago. When Drago held the 4-3 lead and potted a blue to move 30 points ahead with only the colours remaining in the eighth frame, Williams looked beaten. But he laid a tough snooker on the yellow tight in behind the black and Drago could not escape.

Drago left a free ball and Williams cleared up including a somewhat fortuitous swerve shot to sink the green to level the scores at 4-4. "I was shaking in the last frame because I started to think that, here I was after being virtually out of the tournament with a great chance to get through," said Williams, who won with a 75 break.

Williams completed his victory in only 77 minutes to make it the swiftest ever best-of-nine contest to go the distance in a major competition. The previous record was 103 minutes.

John Higgins joined Williams in the last eight by beating the Canadian Alain Robidoux 5-2. Higgins made breaks of 65, 48, 80, 59 and, in what proved the closing frame, 110.

Mark King is in the last eight of a ranking event for the first time since turning professional following his 5-1 triumph over Tony Chappel.