Mark Williams v Graeme Dott: Williams wins battle of former champions

After speeding into a 7-2 lead after the opening session, Mark Williams rattled off the first two frames on Monday afternoon with breaks of 55 and 102 against Graeme Dott to put himself on the verge of a spot in the second round at The Crucible for the first time since 2012.

Despite having chances in the next two frames, however, Williams allowed Dott back into the match, the Scot - champion in 2006 - making runs of 54 and 88 to pull back to 9-4.

A scrappy 14th frame eventually went Williams's way, however, giving the 2000 and 2003 champion victory.

Next up for Williams is a match against either world number one Mark Selby or journeyman Robert Milkins.

13-82 (58), 71-25 (54), 67-41, 72-30 (57), 78-32 (66), 76-0 (76), 17-72 (57), 72-0 (70), 79-29, 72-24, 102-0 (102), 14-65 (54), 11-88 (88), 64-36

Qualifier Dott began confidently putting together a 58 break in the very first frame of the match but Williams riposte was swift rattling off the next five frames with runs of 54, 57, 66 and 76.

Dott managed to get his hand on the table in the seventh frame to cut the arrears to 5-2 but Williams came again with breaks of 70 and 59 to

[World Championship drawsheet]