February 12, 2002	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 28, 1422

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LONDON, Feb 11: Paul Hunter retained his Masters title after a tremendous tussle with Mark Williams at Wembley Sunday evening.

Hunter, who lifted the trophy last year after a 10-9 comeback win against Fergal O’Brien, produced another great comeback to defeat the left-handed Welshman by the same score.

The 23-year-old from Leeds came from 5-0 down to retain his title and claim a record £190,000 first prize.

It took his earnings to £324,000 and catapulted him to the top of the season’s money list.

“I don’t think either of us played our best snooker,” Hunter said after becoming only the third player in 28 finals to successfully defend the title.

“But it went to the wire so it was an exciting final for the fans.”

Hunter took the lead for the first time in the 15th frame and was never behind from there.

Things had looked very grim for him when Williams raced into a 5-0 lead during the opening session.

But the champion responded by winning the next five - three before the afternoon interval and then the first two of the evening session.

That set up a fascinating final session, with neither man ever being able to pull away.

At 7-7, Hunter took the next frame and the lead for the first time in the match.

The players traded the next two frames, but at 9-8 down, Williams produced a frame-winning break to take the match to the deciding frame.

Williams scored first, but it was Hunter who made the frame and championship winning contribution as he cleared a sizeable cluster of reds.

Perhaps the shot that made the difference was a rest-assisted pot at the start of the break which allowed him to build the break.

Only Stephen Hendry and Cliff Thorburn have ever retained the Masters title.

The beaten Williams picked up a cheque for £95,000, although he will struggle to comprehend how he lost a seemingly match-winning lead.

Final (best of 19 frames):

Paul Hunter beat Mark J Williams (Wales) 10-9 (1-84 (79) 51-64 6-83 53-64 79-82 74-56 107-7 (69) 67-56 88-8 (61) 59-56 20-61 (53) 70-5 (57) 39-65 85-6 (84) 71-34 4-65 65-37 0-73 (72) 65-10 (65).