Mark J. Williams

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For other persons of the same name, see Mark Williams.
Mark J. Williams
Born March 21, 1975 (1975-03-21) (age 33),
Cwm, Ebbw Vale
Nationality Flag of Wales Welsh
Nickname(s) Welsh Potting Machine, Sprog
Professional 1992–
Highest ranking #1 (3 years)
2008/09 ranking #22
Career winnings GB£3,549,980[1]
Highest break 147 (2005)
Tournament wins
Ranking 16
Non-ranking 4
World Champion 2000, 2003

Mark J. Williams, MBE (born 21 March 1975, Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales) is a Welsh professional snooker player who has been World Champion twice, in 2000 and 2003. Often noted for his single-ball potting, he has earned the nickname, The Welsh Potting Machine.

The only left-handed player to win the World Championship,[1][2] Williams has won 16 ranking tournaments (fifth on the all-time list), including the UK Championship twice, in 1999 and 2002. He has also won the Masters on two occasions. He has been ranked world number 1 for a total of three seasons in his career.

He is officially referred to as Mark J. Williams, to distinguish him from another Mark Williams, an English player from the 1990s. On an occasion after winning a tournament, the prize money was sent to the other Mark Williams by mistake. [2] He has compiled 212 centuries to date, currently ninth on the all-time list.[3]

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Early Career

Williams started playing snooker at an early age, and scored his first century when he was 13. He won his first junior event when he was 11, and it was then that he realised that he wanted to pursue a career as a snooker player.[4] If he hadn't had such talent as a snooker player he could well have followed his father, Dilwyn down the pits to work as a miner. When he was 15 he did a 12 hour shift down the mines. [5] Williams was also a promising Amateur boxer [1] being undefeated in 12 fights as a schoolboy, [5] but he decided to pursue his snooker career instead. He turned professional in 1992, and finished his first season ranked 119, and within three seasons was ranked in the Worlds top 16, breaking into the 16 for the 1996/1997 season. Williams` first ranking tournament win came in January 1996 when he claimed the Welsh Open title, beating John Parrott 9-3 in the final. After an unsuccessful 1996 World Championship, he won the first ranking event of the new season - the Grand Prix - in October 1996, beating surprise finalist Euan Henderson 9-5 in the final. In 1997 he won the British Open, beating Stephen Hendry 9-2 in the final. He also went on to win his first Masters title in 1998, beating Hendry on the final black 10-9 recovering from 6-9 down, in a thrilling final. In the 1997 World Championship against Terry Griffiths, the latter's last appearance at the Crucible as a player, he eventually beat his coach 10-9 on the black but lost 13-8 to Hendry in the last-16.

In the 1998 World Championship he reached the semi-finals with wins over Quinten Hann, Steve Davis and Peter Ebdon before losing 17-14 to Ken Doherty.

[edit] 1999-2004

The 1999/2000 season was a very successful one for Williams. He won both the UK Championship and the World Championship. These results, along with another ranking title and three runner-up positions, allowed him to capture the world number 1 position at the end of the season. In his World Championship final he came from 7-13 behind his fellow countryman, Matthew Stevens to eventually win 18-16. Williams won one ranking event in the 2000/2001 season, the Grand Prix, with a 9-5 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final, [6] but he was a runner-up in two other ranking events, the UK Championship and China Open, and he maintained his number 1 ranking, although his title defence in the World Championship fell in the second round with a 12-13 defeat to Joe Swail.

In the 2001/2002 season Williams only won one ranking tournament, the China Open where he defeated Anthony Hamilton 9-8 in the final. However, he lost to the same player 13-9 in the second round of the 2002 World Championship, and he lost his number 1 ranking to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Another strong performance came in the 2002/2003 season when he won the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship titles. [7] This made him the only the fourth player after Hendry, Davis and John Higgins to hold these titles simultaneously, and only the third player after Davis and Hendry to have won them all in one year. [7] These results enabled him to reclaim the number 1 spot at the of the season. In the UK Championship final he beat Ken Doherty 10-9, and in the Masters he beat Hendry 10-4,[8] in the last year of the event's sponsorship from Benson and Hedges. [9] Before the 2003 World Championship he had a scare with his cue when it was damaged and badly bent on his flight with Ryanair to play in the Irish Masters, but he had it repaired before the tournament. [10]

On his way to winning the 2003 World title he beat Stuart Pettman 10-4, Quinten Hann 13-2, Hendry 13-7 and Stephen Lee 17-8 before facing Doherty in the final. He led 10-2 before Doherty fought back to 16-16. Williams regained his composure under intense pressure to win the last two frames and lift the trophy for the second time.

The following season he lost in the first round of the UK Championship to Fergal O'Brien,[11] a match which saw an end to his run of 48 tournaments in which he had won his first match, and saw him endure a run of poor form over the 2004/2005 season which saw him slide to 9th in the world rankings for 2005/2006. His defence of the World Championship started with a 10-7 win over Dominic Dale, but he lost 13-11 in the second round to Joe Perry.

[edit] 2005-present

On April 20, in 2005 he became the first Welshman, and the fifth player in history, to score a maximum (147 break) at the Crucible Theatre during the World Championship. This came in the final frame of a 10-1 first round victory over Robert Milkins. [12][13] But he lost in the second round to Ian McCulloch 13-12, in a high quality match.

On March 26, 2006, Williams won his 16th ranking title, and first ranking event in two and a half years, the China Open in Beijing, beating Higgins 9-8 in the final. [14] This helped him return to the top 8 in the world rankings, after a dramatic fall in the provisional rankings which saw him facing a possible drop out of the top 16. He also showed good form in the 2006 World Championships, beating Anthony Hamilton 10-1 and Mark Selby 13-8 to set up a quarter-final clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan, the first time the two had met at the Crucible, and the match was given extra tension considering they had been rivals. [15] Williams started well to lead 3-1 but was trailing 6-10 after two sessions, but won 5 consecutive frames to lead 11-10 before O'Sullivan took the next 3 to clinch victory 11-13. It was revealed during this tournament that Williams had split with coach Terry Griffiths. The two remained very close friends, but Terry would no longer be coaching him. In late 2007, Williams returned to having Griffiths as his coach. [16]

On September 2, 2006, Williams won the Pot Black trophy after racking up a century break (119) in the final against John Higgins.[17] But, Williams had perhaps the worst season of his career in 2006/2007, losing his first match in a string of tournaments (including the World Championship, for the first time ever), but retained his top 16 place, mainly through the ranking points he had earned the previous season. He started the 2007/08 season at 12th on the official ranking list, but was out the top 16 in the provisional one. He lost his opening match in the Shanghai Masters to Stuart Bingham, which saw him slide out the top 32 on the provisional ranking list. He won his first match of the 2007/2008 season in the Royal London Watches Grand Prix with a 4-3 win over Ian McCulloch, but he still failed to qualify for the last 16 of the event.

In the Maplin UK Championship, saw a return to some form. He beat Ricky Walden comfortably 9-3 in the last 32, and in the last 16 he faced Mark Allen who led 4-0 and 5-1. However, a remarkable comeback saw him win the remaining 8 frames to win 9-5. In the quarter-finals, Stephen Maguire was too strong and beat him 9-5. Still, reaching the quarter-finals is a sign that Williams may be returning to form, boosted by the news that Terry Griffiths is coaching him again.

However, after a 6-2 first round loss to Ken Doherty in the 2008 Masters, Williams revealed he was considering retirement from the game, although only 32 years old, if he dropped out of the top 32 and was forced to play in the qualifying competitions. [18] But he also stated at the Welsh Open at Newport, that this statement had been blown out of proportion, and that he would remain a professional. At the Welsh Open he beat the current Grand Prix champion Marco Fu 5-4 in a thrilling encounter in the last 32, before being beaten 5-2 by an in-form Shaun Murphy in the last 16. He also showed more consistency in the China Open by reaching the quarter-finals with wins over Marcus Campbell 5-1 and Peter Ebdon 5-2 but could not reach his first semi-final for 2 years, being beaten 5-3 by Ryan Day. His next outing was to the World Championship where he cruised to a 10-3 victory over Mark Davis. However, a 13-7 defeat to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round forced him out of the top 16, meaning he will have to go through the qualifiers next year. In that match he was on the receiving end of a 147 from O'Sullivan.

[edit] Playing style

Williams is believed by some snooker pundits to be the one of the greatest long potters in the game. [19] He has compiled over 200 competitive centuries during his career,[3] but often prefers to do exhibition shots when a frame is won. Despite this he is still 9th on the all time list of century makers. Williams is known as a dry wit with a laid-back attitude towards the game, despite often having a serious expression whilst playing. An unorthodox aspect of his style is a tendency to play his cue directly underneath his body instead of using the rest, which he often does when a frame is won. He is colour blind and has difficulty to distinguish between the red and brown balls. [20]

[edit] Personal Life

Williams is also a keen poker player. [21] He is proud of his Welsh heritage, and has a tattoo depicting the Welsh dragon eating the English flag, he and his fiancée Joanne have two sons: Connor (born April 2004),[1] and Kian (2007). [22] Williams is good friends with Matthew Stevens and Stephen Hendry, as well as boxer Joe Calzaghe. Williams was awarded an MBE in June 2004.[23]

[edit] Tournament wins and career rankings

Season Ranking
1993/94 119
1994/95 58
1995/96 39
1996/97 16
1997/98 4
1998/99 5
1999/00 3
2000/01 1
2001/02 1
2002/03 2
2003/04 1
2004/05 2
2005/06 9
2006/07 8
2007/08 12
2008/09 22

[edit] Ranking wins

[edit] Other wins

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d World Snooker profile of Williams
  2. ^ a b Profile on Global Snooker Centre
  3. ^ a b Chris Turners Snooker archive (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  4. ^ Mark Williams' snooker tips. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-02-29.
  5. ^ a b Snooker: I'd rather be in the bingo hall than the players' lounge. The Independent (2004-02-01). Retrieved on 2008-02-29.
  6. ^ Profile on Sporting Life 2001/2002. Sporting Life (2001/2002). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  7. ^ a b Williams wins thrilling final. BBC Sport (2003-10-12). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  8. ^ Williams hammers Hendry. BBC Sport (2003-02-17). Retrieved on 2008-02-29.
  9. ^ Masters' Wembley swansong. BBC Sport (2003-02-16). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  10. ^ Damages claim over bent cue. BBC News (2003-04-11). Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  11. ^ Profile on snooker.org. Retrieved on 2008-02-29.
  12. ^ Video - Williams overwhelmed by maximum break. BBC Sport (2005-04-20). Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  13. ^ Williams hits superb Crucible 147. BBC Sport (2005-04-20). Retrieved on 2007-02-29.
  14. ^ Williams ends long wait for title. BBC Sport (2006-03-26). Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  15. ^ O'Sullivan opens Williams feud. BBC Sport (2003-03-25). Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  16. ^ Profile on Sporting Life. Sporting Life (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  17. ^ Williams claims Pot Black prize. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
  18. ^ Williams contemplates retirement. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
  19. ^ Masters 2004: Player profiles. BBC Sport (2004-01-30). Retrieved on 2008-02-29.
  20. ^ Profile for Mark Williams on Billiard Index. Billiard Index. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  21. ^ Profile on thehendonmob.com. The Hendon Mob (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  22. ^ Williams hopes to be top of the pops. icWales (2007-02-11). Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  23. ^ MBE joy for Williams. BBC Sport (2004-06-11). Retrieved on 2007-04-30.



World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association | World Number Ones in Men's snooker

Ray Reardon | Cliff Thorburn | Steve Davis | Stephen Hendry | John Higgins | Mark Williams | Ronnie O'Sullivan