Mark Williams progressed to the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions tournament by defeating Kyren Wilson 6-5 in Tuesday’s Group Two final.

Wilson came back from 5-3 down to force a decider but Williams did enough to secure victory over the reigning world champion.

Williams, the world number six, went 3-2 up after breaks of 109 and 72, only for England’s Wilson to draw level with a century of his own.

The Welshman then produced runs of 140 and 71 to restore a two-frame advantage in Bolton, but world number two Wilson replied with a 123.

A break of 56 put Williams on the brink of victory in the 10th frame, and although Wilson hit 58 to keep the match alive, Williams did enough to ensure he marched on.

Earlier, Williams beat China’s Bai Yulu, the women’s world champion, in the group semi-finals.

Although the women’s world number four, 21, levelled things up at 1-1, Williams won the next three frames to clinch a 4-1 victory, his highest break of 92 coming in the opener.

Wilson also won his first match on Tuesday 4-1, hitting two centuries against Belgium’s Luca Brecel to romp to victory after the 2023 world champion took the first frame.

Williams follows Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen into the semi-finals of the invitational tournament, where 16 players are divided into four groups of four.

The winners of each group contest the semi-finals and the winner of Sunday’s final will collect a first prize of £150,000.

There’s no denying how tough it is to win a UFC championship, but historically it might be even tougher to reclaim a UFC title after losing it.

Brandon Moreno, who held the UFC flyweight title just a year ago, is on a mission to regain what was once his after making his return earlier this month and dominating top contender Amir Albazi in the main event of UFC Fight Night 246. It was an impressive showing from Moreno (22-8-2 MMA, 10-5-2 UFC) that got his fans hopeful in his ability to compete at the championship level.

“The Assassin Baby” has set his sights again on UFC gold, and he’s confident he can once again rule the division.

“Right now I’m very focused on the title,” Moreno told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I seriously think that I can become champion again, especially after the showing that I had (against Albazi), so I’m going to stay on that path.”

Moreno lost the UFC flyweight title in July 2023, coming up short in a split decision against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290. He then dropped another split decision to Brandon Royval in February before announcing a break from MMA competition that lasted eight months.

The 30-year-old is happy to be back in the win column, but he knows there’s work to be done before he can realistically get a crack at the title.

“Being very honest with myself, I think that sporting wise, Royval is likely the one who most deserves the opportunity,” Moreno said of the title picture at flyweight. “I have no problem saying that at all. He’s done a very good job, and in his last fight against Tatsura (Taira), he looked very good. It was a great fight. There’s also Kai (Kara France), but he’s in a very weird position because I do think he can deserve it, he did have an incredible knockout against (Steve) Erceg, but I think my performance was very good, and Royval is right there, too. I think Kai has the most awkward position.

“So for me, I think I need to do one more fight. And as far as names, there’s Tatsuro Taira, Manel Kape is there, as well. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Kai Asakura – if he loses (to Pantoja at UFC 310), that can be an option. So I’m just going to be ready for whatever comes next. I’m just going to keep healthy and stay ready.”

TEMPLEGATE tackles Wednesday’s action confident of lining his pockets.

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SEA THEME (2.07 Lingfield, nap). 

Can sail away with another Listed prize. William Haggas’s filly is unbeaten in this grade and went close in a Longchamp Group 1 the last time she tackled a staying trip like this.

She handles any turf ground so should be fine on this all-weather debut. Haggas can boost his strong record in this race.

JAGWAR (12.25 Bangor, nb)

Impressed when scoring on chase debut at Wetherby. He came from a mile back to get up on the line. This slightly longer trip will suit and there’s a lot more to come.

FORTUNATE STAR (7.00 Southwell, treble)

Loved getting back on the sand when dead-heating for first here last week. He saves his best for this trip and can go close again under a penalty.

MINELLA RESCUE (4.05 Bangor)

Has improved with every run since going over hurdles. He landed a deserved win at Stratford last time when he came with a perfectly timed challenge. This hike in trip is a positive and this race looks no tougher than last time and he can score again.

Templegate’s Tips

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NEW YORK CITY — UFC lightweight contender and former Bellator champion Michael Chandler discusses his rematch with Charles Oliveira at UFC 309, their first fight at UFC 262, how he’ll approach this matchup differently, his place in the lightweight title picture, and his new tequila line with MMA Fighting’s Jose Youngs.

Parry also expressed concern at “a whole raft of competition law cases which are impacting on the way that we run the game”.

He continued: “Having been left more or less free to set their own rules for many years, now the competition law authorities… seem to be saying, ‘we don’t think that the people running football are doing a terribly good job of it’.

“To be looking over our shoulder all of the time with challenges from clubs if they don’t like rules… the game will grind to a halt unless we find a solution for that.”

In September, Leicester City won an appeal against a possible points deduction for an alleged breach of financial rules, when an independent panel found the Premier League did not have the jurisdiction to punish the club as it had been relegated to the Championship when their accounting period ended. The ruling indicated the wording in the Premier League’s regulations was not legally sound.

Last month two aspects of the Premier League’s associated party transaction rules – which regulate commercial deals involving clubs’ owners – were deemed unlawful by a tribunal after being challenged by Manchester City, which has since threatened further legal action.

“It’s certainly getting a lot more difficult,” said Parry.

“I have no problem with us having to be more professional and to be at the top of our game because that’s where we should be. But it’s the willingness of clubs at the drop of a hat to challenge the whole system.

“You have to question how long you can function effectively while that mentality exists, and we have to find a solution to that.

“The way in which we ensure consistency of financial regulation across the two leagues isn’t working. One thing a single independent regulator will bring is that consistency.”

The legislation will “explicitly require clubs to provide effective engagement” with fans on changes to ticket prices, and any proposals to relocate home grounds. It will no longer be required to consider government foreign and trade policy when approving club takeovers, and there will be “a clear commitment” to do more to improve equality, diversity and inclusion.

Nineteen amendments have been proposed by the Fair Game campaign group, including excluding the possibility that the owner of a club could be a state or state-controlled entity, and making the state of the game review assess player welfare, along with an examination of multi-club ownership.