A quiet, mild-mannered Welshman became the inaugural winner of the £305,000 Irish Open at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght last night. Mark Williams, who had consistently dominated play all week, claimed top prize of £50,000 after a 9-4 final victory over Scotland's Alan McManus.
Going into the best-of-17-frame decider, the 23-year-old lefthander had conceded only five frames in the previous four rounds. He maintained that supremacy by racing into a 6-0 lead in the first session yesterday afternoon. Williams' prospect of ultimate success was greatly enhanced by a sweeping, 6-1 semi-final win on Saturday evening over John Parrott, the second world champion he had conquered at Tallaght. But there was also splendid merit in the Scot's three-frame win over the mercurial Tony Drago earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, the final was almost destroyed as a competitive exercise by Williams's dominance of the opening six frames. Among these, the sixth was particularly significant in that it included a clearance of 101 by the Welshman, so maintaining an impressive record of scoring a century in every round.
They included a best-of-the-tournament 139 in a second-round whitewash of Graeme Dott. So, apart from the top prize, Williams collected a tidy little bonus of £3,000 for the highest break in the latter stages of the event.
Whatever happened in the remaining two frames of the afternoon, Williams could not compile the necessary nine-frame total for victory, before the evening session. But it was going to be a decidedly bleak affair unless McManus could close the gap.
In the event he did so, by taking the largely scrappy seventh and eighth frames. In the seventh, Williams needed two snookers on the colours and got them, one on the yellow and the other on the blue. With the black for the frame, however, the ball bobbled in a corner pocket and McManus gratefully accepted the gift.
The Scot then started the evening session as he had finished earlier and got the necessary start when taking the ninth frame with a break of 71.
Both players missed chances on the same red to a centre pocket before McManus got back to the table. This time, a potential, frame-winning break seemed likely to end at 47 when he was hampered by the blue. Using the rest, however, he made a brilliant pot on a red down a side cushion, to keep the break going.
So the score went to 6-3 and the large evening attendance had the prospect of extended action. But Williams took the next frame with a break of 53 which started with a fine cut on a red back into a corner pocket after a lengthy safety exchange.
The Welshman also took the 11th to reclaim a five-frame lead on 8-3 while creating the distinct possibility of an end to proceedings by the mid-session interval. Again McManus escaped, but on this occasion it was to be a short-lived reprieve.
When play resumed after the interval, Williams did what he had been expected to do since lunchtime. With a break of 65, he effectively wrapped up the 13th frame for victory, having thrown in a closing 38 for good measure.
