Paul Hunter (Eng) 10-9 Mark Williams (Wal)
1-84 (79) 51-64 6-83 53-64 79-82 74-56 (Williams 56) 107-7 (69) 67-56 (Williams 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).

Frame one: Williams showed no sign of fatigue after his tense semi-final win over Jimmy White as he knocked in a break of 79 to clinch the opener.

Frame two: Williams broke down on a 44 but Hunter could not take advantage as the Welshman potted a long yellow and cleared to the pink to go two up.

Frame three: Hunter must have been feeling the effects of his tough last four battle with Alan McManus as he fell even further behind.

Frame four: A massive frame for Hunter to win before the interval but he lost it after going in off a long red with Williams pinching it on the black.

Frame five: A 35-minute cat-and-mouse affair in which the pair exchanged 10 foul shots with Williams again denying Hunter as he sank the final black.

Frame six: Williams slotted in a half-century but Hunter dug deep to sneak the frame on the colours much to the defending champion's relief.

Frame seven: Getting off the mark gave Hunter the perfect tonic and he soon reduced the gap to three frames with the help of a 69 break.

Frame eight: Williams started with a 56 break in the last of the session but Hunter refused to buckle as he hit back to win his third frame on the trot.

Frame nine: Hunter carried on where he left off in the afternoon and kept the pressure up on Williams as a break of 61 closed the gap to just one frame.

Frame 10: Williams seems set to win the frame on the black, but a kick on a straightforward pot leaves the ball hanging in the jaws of the pocket and Hunter wins the tightest of frames to level the match.

Frame 11: The setback at the end of the previous frame galvanised Williams into action and a break of 53 was enough to stop the rot as he regained the lead.

Frame 12: Williams' lead was short-lived as Hunter made it all-square again in the last frame before the mid-session interval with an assured break of 57.

Frame 13:Hunter, needing more points than are on the table, extracts two snookers from Williams, but then misses an easy blue to allow the Welshman to take the lead again.

Frame 14: In direct contrast to the dour struggle of the previous frame, Hunter rattled in a quickfire 84, his best of the day, to make it 7-7.

Frame 15: Another scrappy affair. But more importantly for Hunter, it gave him the lead for the first time when Williams, needing snookers, conceded.

Frame 16: Fluency was again the loser with Williams doing enough to take it. The prospect of another final going to the wire was on the cards.

Frame 17: Hunter put himself one frame away from victory when Williams, with the frame all but lost, potted the brown, while attempting a snooker.

Frame 18:Williams hauled himself back from the brink with the first substantial break in four frames, as a 72 took the final to the wire.

Frame 19: Hunter kept his cool to slot a 65 break which was enough to make him only the third champion in 28 finals to successfully defend the title.