He added that he was able to win due to his clearance, and had the opinion there were several high-quality players who could challenge over time. Williams said he was disappointed with the result: "I tried my guts out to win and blew it. This is the most sick I've felt after losing a match for five or six years." He noted that he had a potential 5–2 lead and praised Higgins' play: "It was meant to be his day." The players highlighted in bold text in the table indicate who progressed to the semi-finals. Players in bold to the right of the tables denote match winners. Numbers to the left of the players' name are the tournament seedings. Players in bold indicate match winners. The 2001 Champions Cup featured a total of eight century breaks. The highest break of 130 was recorded by Peter Ebdon in the third frame of his Group A match against Ronnie O'Sullivan, which earned him £5,000 prize money.