XI'AN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Mark Williams saw off Shaun Murphy 10-3 in a best-of-19 game here on Monday, winning the Xi'an Grand Prix and moving himself above Ronnie O'Sullivan into the fourth spot on the world rankings.
Williams, who was one step away from becoming the oldest ranking event winner in snooker history ahead of the final, taking a 4-0 lead before the first intermission.
Murphy pulled one back in the fifth frame after a break of 69, while Williams took all four rest three frames scheduled on afternoon session, extending his lead to six frames before the final session.
Williams kept moving in the ninth frame before Murphy won two in a row and made it 8-3.
However, Murphy had a frame-winning opportunity but couldn't convert it in the 12th, seeing his rival take a runaway 9-3 lead before another intermission.
Then Murphy could have kept his hope of turning the game around in the 13th frame, but he made a howler, handing the chance to Williams to conclude the final.
"I thought he (Williams) was very tough today and he was very good. He was the better man on the day. I missed a few shots. You always miss a few shots, but Mark punished me severely," said Murphy.
"Maybe I should start patting myself on the back a little bit more because what I am doing now," Williams told Xinhua.
"At 50 years of age, it is incredible really to just be competing with these top boys and to get a torment under my belt. It is unbelievable," he added.
