World champion Mark Williams staged a fine fightback to come from 3-0 down to see off Jack Lisowski 5-3 to book a World Open semi-final place.

Englishman Lisowski had the upper hand early on in China and raced into a 3-0 lead with a century break in the third frame particularly catching the eye. However, Welsh star Williams responded and a break of 96 saw him reduce the deficit to 3-1 before the interval. A fluke on the final red then helped him make it 3-2 and the quarter-final was back in the balance.

Lisowski should have restored a two-frame lead but missed a pink when playing with his unfavoured right hand instead of the rest, and Williams made no mistake to clear up and draw level. Thereafter, the world champion had the momentum and he completed an impressive turnaround to seal the win, even though he admitted afterwards his opponent had rather thrown the match away.

Williams told the World Snooker website: “I just hung in there at 3-0 down because Jack was immaculate. He had an easy clearance to go 4-2 up then he played the pink right-handed.

“He might be really good right-handed but if he had got the rest out it was unmissable and then he probably would have won. He let me back into the match. I played well but I suppose he lost it rather than me winning it.”

Williams plays Noppon Saengkham in the semi-final (Williams 1.20, Saengkham 4.33 – Match Betting) after the Thai overcame China’s Xiao Guodong 5-1.