Williams became the first left-hander to win
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Having mathematically guaranteed the number one spot in the world rankings prior to the World Championship, a certain amount of pressure had been released from Mark Williams.
But he still had to prove his mettle to land the record £240,000 first prize.
Relatively untroubled en route to the semi-finals, Williams had twice to overturn large deficits to become the first Welsh world champion since Terry Griffiths in 1979.
John Higgins had built a healthy 14-10 semi-final lead but Williams won the last six frames to go through to the final a 17-15 winner.
In the final, he found second wind again to rally from 13-7 down and beat his compatriot, Matthew Stevens, 18-16.
The top half of the draw lost its two highest seeds in the opening round.
Stephen Hendry was sensationally beaten 10-7 by a Crucible debutant, Stuart Bingham, and Ronnie O'Sullivan was edged 10-9 by David Gray despite making a first round record five centuries.
John Parrott was beaten 13-12 from 12-8 up in the last 16 by Joe Swail, who enjoyed a career best run to the semi-finals.
Swail's great adventure was ended by Stevens, who also eliminated the perennial crowd favourite, Jimmy White, in the quarter-finals.
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MMIX
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