By Dan Warren BBC Sport at The Crucible

Williams was always in control Framewatch: Williams v Lee

Mark Williams wasted little time in seeing off Stephen Lee 17-8 to reach the final of the World Championships at the Crucible.

Williams only needed to win one frame in Saturday's evening session to earn the right to play Ken Doherty in the final.

The Welsh world number one showed no nerves as he wrapped up proceedings in the opening frame in just 20 minutes.

Lee's chances of winning the match had all but evaporated in a disastrous third session, and he was given no chance to make an unlikely comeback.

Williams had begun that Saturday morning session in determined fashion, winning four in a row to go 14-6 ahead and set himself up for victory.

He's dangerous when he is in this mood so I'm not too disappointed Stephen Lee

And he admitted his explosive start, when he raced into a 7-1 lead, had been the key to the match.

"It is a massive lead but Stephen came back and could have won a lot more in the second session," said Williams.

"I lost that session 5-3 which I was delighted with. I always felt I could control the match from 7-1.

"The final against Ken Doherty will be tough but I am looking forward to it."

Lee agreed that his disastrous start had given him little chance of victory.

"The damage was done when I went 7-1 down. It is hard to beat him at the best of times but he had the run of the ball as well," said Lee.

"I was playing catch-up all game and it was just too much.

"He's dangerous when he is in this mood so I'm not too disappointed. It is good to get some rankings points."

Semi-final result: (best of 33 frames)
Mark Williams (Wal) 17-8 Stephen Lee (Eng)
65-61 (Lee 61), 113-19 (102), 62-47 (53), 69-39, 74-33, 61-32, 4-140 (140), 95-0 (63), 19-61, 36-64, 25-65, 125-0 (64), 67-64 (59 Lee), 78-4 (78), 0-133 (82), 87-0 (76), 51-5 (50), 64-23 (53), 64-13, 22-87 (63), 65-46, 10-74 (56), 80-0, 92-0