made two surprise social media posts during a break in his final. He took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to reflect on the match, . The three-time champion appeared to have all but given up hope of an unlikely comeback, commending his opponent and thanking fans for their support throughout the tournament.

largely dominated each of the three sessions before Williams' post online and he only needs one more frame to become world champion. He broke out into a 7-1 lead and the Welshman has struggled to peg him back ever since. The 50-year-old, who is the oldest player ever to reach the final, needs to take 10 frames before Zhao gets one to claim what would be the biggest comeback in World Championship history.

Williams pinpointed Zhao's cue power as one of the differences between the two finalists across two days, also claiming that the former winner is probably the "best potter" he has ever witnessed.

He wrote: "Oh well, that was tough, I've not got enough cue power to combat tough conditions like Zhao. His cue power is superb. prob the best potter i ever seen."

Williams a few moments later added: "Last session in few hours, support I have had this last 2 weeks have been amazing from the crowd and everyone."

The players shook hands before play commenced on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon and Zhao led 11-6, with no player ever coming back from a bigger deficit overnight in the history of the Crucible.

Williams has such an unflappable mentality that if one player were to have upset the odds, many would pick him, having done so from 11-7 behind previously against Matthew Stevens.

But Zhao took the third session 6-2 and did not have to be at his best to do so, but put one hand on the title and is set to become the first-ever Asian world snooker champion when play resumes at 7pm.

Having already taken out , , Hossein Vafaei and Wu Yize in a monumental effort just to get to the final, Williams will be proud of his efforts, but taking the top gong appears to be just a step too far.

The end is in sight and Williams is already reflecting on the tournament as a whole by thanking those who came out to support him, but will be hoping he can give fans inside the Crucible more to cheer by mounting an unthinkable comeback.