Mark Williams will make a late decision on whether to pull out of the Northern Ireland Open final after his wife was taken to hospital.
The Welshman is scheduled to meet 17-year-old Yan Bingtao at Waterfront Hall on Sunday afternoon after both players recorded impressive wins in their respective semi-finals.
Following his 6-2 victory over England's Elliot Slessor during Saturday's afternoon session, Williams posted a message on his personal Twitter account, @markwil147, giving an update on concerns for his wife Joanne.
"Not the phone call I wanted. Mrs in ambulance taking her back to hospital tonight. Summut not right here. Waiting to hear what is going to happen next. @jodenwill really going through it at the moment. Last thing I want is too pull out now but we will have 2 wait and c", Williams wrote at just before 8pm.
World Snooker subsequently issued a statement on the governing body's Twitter account confirming the current plans for Sunday remained in place, a post which Williams later retweeted.
"To clarify Mark Williams is currently monitoring his personal situation. He has not withdrawn from the competition and as it stands tomorrow's final will go ahead as planned at 1pm. #NIOpen," the statement on @WorldSnooker1 read.
Tipped up pre-tournament at 40/1 each-way by our snooker tipster Simon Crawford, the veteran Welshman has cruised through the rounds in Belfast over the past week, winning 21 frames and losing just four in his previous five games before Saturday's semi-finals.
And the former two-time world champion maintained his superb form against Ronnie O'Sullivan's conqueror Slessor, who was appearing in the last four of a ranking tournament for the first time, by cruising to a 6-2 triumph.
A match high break of 127 helped him into an early 2-0 lead and further runs of 61, 68 and 54 helped him complete a win which keeps him on course to claim his first ranking title since the 2011 German Masters.
Williams, the only top 16 player left in the competition after a host of shocks, is 4/6 with Sky Bet to defeat Bingtao, who beat Lyu Haotian in the battle of the Chinese teenagers.
The prodigy is 11/10 to become the youngest ever winner of a ranking event - a feat he nearly achieved at the recent International Championship, demolishing Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-1 and brushing John Higgins aside 6-2, before bowing out against Mark Allen in the last four.
Bingtao came from 2-1 down against Haotian to run out a 6-2 winner thanks to breaks of 73, 75 and a closing 114.
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