UK Championship - Day eight - Williams digs deep to win thrilling semi

Strength of the character is one of the most important ingredients of a snooker champion.

Mark Williams proved he has plenty of it after beating Shaun Murphy 9-8 in today's dramatic UK Championship semi-final.

A lot has been made of the Welshman's run to the last four. Despite wins over Mark Davis, Stephen Hendry and Mark Joyce so far in Telford, his form has been compared to that of a horror show by the BBC. He's always been renowned as one of the best players for earning results when not at his best.

But this week, he's rode his luck to the full. His long game has been close to non-existent.

Everyone said he needed to play ten times better to beat Shaun Murphy, who has been striking the cue ball as sweet as a nut this week. In the first session, he wasn't quite back to his best, but he was definitely on the up. He still struggled with his long game, but in among the balls, he looked confident, so built up a 5-3 lead.

This evening, he nicked the first and compiled a 34-point lead in frame 10. But then, as he looked on the verge of hitting top form, he completely fell apart. He went 74 minutes without potting a single ball and had slumped to 8-6 behind.

The match was virtually over. Murphy was playing as well as he had all week, potting every ball in sight, but when it seemed impossible, Williams did what all great champions must, by digging deep and pulling himself out of the mire.

He won the last three frames, and went from not looking like potting any long ball, to hardly missing one. His comeback was remarkable. How it happened? I have no idea. It was all about shear determination and power of thought. He told himself he could play, and play he did.

So now he finds himself in the final of the second most important snooker tournament of the season, with of tournament-high break of just 82.

While his form is still some way away from his best, with this kind of never-say-die attitude, how can you write him off?

Tomorrow he faces John Higgins, in a re-match of the same UK final a decade ago.

If it's even a patch on the drama we witnessed today, I simply cannot wait.

Well played Mark!