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Mark Williams (snooker player)

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Mark Williams
German Masters 2015
Born (1975-03-21) 21 March 1975 (age 49)
Cwm, Ebbw Vale
Sport country Wales
NicknameThe Welsh Potting Machine[1]
Professional1992–
Highest ranking1
Current ranking 7 (as of 28 October 2024)
Century breaks647 (as of 4 November 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking21
Minor-ranking2
World Champion

Mark James Williams, MBE (born 21 March 1975) is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time and the current World Champion, winning in 2000, 2003 and 2018.[4] Often noted for his single-ball potting, he has earned the nickname "The Welsh Potting Machine". He has been ranked the world number 1 for a total of three seasons in his career.

The first left-handed player to win the World Championship[4], Williams has won 21 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, in 1998 and 2003. Williams' most successful season in his career to date was the 2002/2003 season, when he won the acclaimed treble of tournaments (known as the Triple Crown): the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship. He is the third player after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to win all three Triple Crown events in one season. Following his second World Championship his form declined, and he dropped out of the top 16 following the 2007/2008 season, but regained his place for 2009/2010. He has compiled more than 400 century breaks during his career.[citation needed]

Career

Early career

Williams was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale,[5] and started playing snooker at an early age. He 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.[6] He was encouraged to play by his father Dilwyn, who was a miner. When he was 15 he did a 12-hour shift down the mines.[7] Williams was also a promising amateur boxer,[4] undefeated in 12 fights as a schoolboy,[7] but he decided to pursue his snooker career instead. He turned professional in 1992 and finished his first season ranked 119th. He was ranked in the world's top 16 for the 1996/1997 season. Williams' first ranking tournament win came in January 1996, when he won the 1996 Welsh Open title, beating John Parrott 9–3 in the final.[8] After failing to qualify for the 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.[9] In April 1997, he also won the British Open, beating Stephen Hendry 9–2 in the final.[10] He also beat Hendry in the final to win his first Masters title in February 1998, winning on the final black 10–9 after recovering from 6–9 down, in a thrilling final.[11] At the 1997 World Championship, he was drawn 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 8–13 to Hendry in the last 16. In the 1998 World Championship, he reached the semi-finals, losing 14–17 to Ken Doherty. He was runner-up next year to Hendry.

1999–2004

The 1999/2000 season was a very successful one for Williams who won 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 for the first time. In the World Championship final he came from 7–13 behind his fellow countryman, Matthew Stevens to eventually win 18–16. He also produced a notable comeback in his semi-final match against John Higgins, coming from 10–14 down to win 17–15.[12] Williams won only one ranking event in the following season, the Grand Prix, with a 9–5 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final,[13] but he was a runner-up in two other ranking events, the UK Championship and the China Open. This was enough to retain his number 1 ranking, although his title defence at the World Championship fell in the second round with a 12–13 defeat to Joe Swail.

In the 2001/2002 season Williams also only won one ranking tournament, as he struggled to find the form from the previous season, winning the China Open, where he defeated Anthony Hamilton 9–8 from 5–8 down in the final. However, he lost to the same player 9–13 in the second round of the World Championship and the number 1 ranking to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Another strong performance came in 2002/2003 season when he won the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship titles.[14] This made him 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 season.[14] These results enabled him to reclaim the number 1 spot at the end of the season. In the UK Championship final he beat Ken Doherty 10–9, and in the Masters he beat Hendry 10–4,[15] 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.[16]

On his way to winning the 2003 World title, he had a relatively untroubled route to the final with wins over Stuart Pettman 10–2, Quinten Hann 13–2, Hendry 13–7 and Stephen Lee 17–8 before facing Doherty in the final. He led 10–2, and looked to be heading for an easy victory, 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.[17][18]

The following season, he lost in the first round of the UK Championship to Fergal O'Brien,[19] a match which ended his record run of 48 tournaments in which he had won his first match,[20] His defence at the 2004 World Championship started with a 10–7 win over Dominic Dale, but he lost 11–13 in the second round to Joe Perry, and saw him endure a run of poor form over the 2004/2005 season where he slid to 9th in the world rankings for 2005/2006.

2005–2009

On 20 April, in 2005 he became the first Welshman, and the fifth player in history to score a maximum break at the Crucible Theatre in the World Championship. This came in the final frame of a 10–1 first round victory over Robert Milkins,[21][22] but he lost in the second round to Ian McCulloch 12–13, in a high quality match.

On 26 March 2006, Williams won his 16th (and first ranking event in two and a half years), the China Open in Beijing, beating Higgins 9–8 in the final.[23] 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 Championship, 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. The match was given extra tension considering they had been rivals, (although O'Sullivan has since said that the former feud has been replaced by friendship and respect).[24][25] In a close fought match, O'Sullivan eventually won 13–11. It was revealed during that tournament that Williams had split with coach Terry Griffiths. The two remained very close friends, but Griffiths would no longer be coaching him. In late 2007, Williams returned to having Griffiths as his coach.[26]

On 2 September 2006, Williams won the Pot Black trophy, after compiling a century break (119) in the final against John Higgins.[27] However, 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 he retained his top 16 place, mainly through the ranking points he had earned the previous season.

His first win of the 2007/2008 season came in the Grand Prix with a 4–3 win over Ian McCulloch, but he still failed to qualify for the last 16 of the event and was outside the top 32 on the provisional ranking list.

In the UK Championship, he showed 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 cool 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. However, reaching the quarter-finals was a sign that Williams may be returning to form, boosted by the news that Terry Griffiths was coaching him again.

However, after a 2–6 first round loss to Ken Doherty in the 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 all the qualifying competitions.[28] But he also claimed at the Welsh Open at Newport that this statement had been blown out of proportion, and that he would remain a professional. He began to show more consistency for the remainder of the season, reaching the last 16 of three ranking events and a run to the quarter-finals of the China Open, but he could not reach his first semi-final for 2 years, losing 3–5 against Ryan Day. At the World Championship he defeated Mark Davis, however a 7–13 defeat to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round forced him out of the top 16, pushing him into the qualifiers for 2008/2009. In that match he was on the receiving end of a 147 from O'Sullivan.[29] On 8 July 2008 it was announced that Williams had split from his management company 110 Sport, following O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire.[30]

In 2008/2009 he reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters and UK Championship, but also suffered three qualifying defeats. The UK Championship particularly saw some return to form as he beat Mark Selby[31] and Graeme Dott 9–7, before losing narrowly 8–9 to Ali Carter.[32] He also qualified for the World Championship but lost 7–10 to Stephen Hendry after leading 7–5. During the end of the match he suffered some trouble with his tip.[33] However, he had done enough to return to the top 16 at the end of the season.

2009/2010

The 2009/2010 season started badly however when Williams broke his wrist in a fall at home, less than a month before the first ranking event of the season, the Shanghai Masters.[34] Despite this injury he played in Shanghai, wearing a cast on his wrist because removal of the cast could have caused long term damage.[35] There he won his first round match against Joe Swail 5–3, but lost in the next round against John Higgins 1–5. In the Grand Prix he secured wins over Stuart Bingham, Stephen Hendry and Robert Milkins on his way to the semi-finals but despite racking up a 142 (the highest break of the tournament) in the first frame against Ding Junhui, he lost 1–6.[36]

In the UK Championship he led Graeme Dott 6–2, before Dott retired due to illness and thus winning the match 9–2. After this he lost his next match against Peter Lines 8–9. At the Masters he won his wild card round match, beating Rory McLeod 6–2. Then he won his first round match against Ali Carter 6–3 to progress to the quarter-finals of the event, despite being involved in a traffic accident the day before his match against Carter. It was reported that a car drove into the back of the 4x4 his sponsors had lent him,[37] which was carrying Williams and Stephen Hendry to a restaurant.[38] In the quarter-finals he defeated Shaun Murphy 6–4, but eventually lost a high quality match in the semi-finals 5–6 against Ronnie O'Sullivan.[39] In the Welsh Open, he reached the quarter-finals, beating Fergal O'Brien 5–2, Andrew Higginson 5–0 before losing against Stephen Maguire 1–5.

After these signs of form, in April 2010 he won his first ranking tournament in four years – the China Open.[40] On his way he beat Jamie Cope 5–3, the then reigning world champion John Higgins 5–2, Marco Fu 5–1 and Ali Carter 6–4, setting up a clash with Ding Junhui in the final. Trailing 3–5 at one point, Williams eventually won the match 10–6. This was Williams' 17th ranking event win and his 3rd China Open. After his victory Williams said: "I'm over the moon to win again. It's been a long time coming but I've kept working hard and I felt that in the end the results would come."[41]

In the World Snooker Championship Williams defeated Marcus Campbell 10–5 in the first round, but lost his second round match against Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–13. He finished the season ranked 8th.

2010/2011

Williams opened the season by winning the first event of the Players Tour Championship by defeating Stephen Maguire 4–0 in the final, a new addition to the snooker calendar introduced by Barry Hearn, a series of events that Williams has supported.[42][43][44] Williams finished 6th on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit.[45]

In the Shanghai Masters Williams won his first round match against Ricky Walden 5–3, but lost narrowly in the second round against Graeme Dott 4–5.[46] He then reached the semi-finals of the World Open, where he lost 2–3 against eventual winner Neil Robertson.[47]

He was selected to compete in the 2010 Premier League, due to his success from the previous season, the first time he has competed in the event for five years,[48] but failed to reach the semi-finals.[49] At the UK Championship he reached the final, his run including a 9–8 victory over Shaun Murphy after trailing 6–8,[50] but lost against John Higgins 9–10 in the final, after leading 7–2, 8–4 and 9–5 at some points of the match, as well as leading the 17th frame by 29 points with only the colours remaining, meaning Higgins needed a snooker to stay in the match.[51] Williams' next tournament was the Masters, where he lost 4–6 in the first round against Ding Junhui.[52] Williams won the first ranking event of 2011, the German Masters, by defeating Mark Selby 9–7 in the final.[53][54] At the China Open Williams couldn't defend his title, as he lost in the first round 4–5 against Stephen Lee, despite making four centuries.[55]

At the 2011 World Snooker Championship, Williams defeated Ryan Day 10–5 in the first round, and Jamie Cope 13–4 in the second round.[56] He then won his quarter-final against Mark Allen by the same scoreline, and in doing so he reached the semi-final stage for the first time since 2003,[57] but lost 14–17 against John Higgins.[56] As a result of Selby's exit from the tournament Williams became the new world number one after the event.[58]

2011/2012

At the World Cup Williams was partnered with Matthew Stevens to represent Wales, and they reached the semi-finals, losing 1–4 against China.[59] Williams then reached the final of the Australian Goldfields Open, but lost 8–9 against Stuart Bingham, after leading 8–5 at one point of the match.[60] Williams also lost from a winning position in the final of the next major ranking event, the Shanghai Masters. His run included a 6–5 win over Neil Robertson in the semi-final, and he led Mark Selby 9–7 in the final, but lost the last three frames to lose 9–10. The defeat also meant that Selby took the world number one spot from Williams.[61] He was beaten in the last 16 of the UK Championship by Ricky Walden and reached the quarter-finals in his defence of the German Masters, where he succumbed 3–5 to Stephen Lee.[62] Williams suffered a 1–5 defeat to Mark King in the first round of the World Open and by the same scoreline to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the China Open.[63]

Williams played in 11 of the 12 PTC events throughout the season, but could only reach the last 32 two times, in Event 10 and Event 11. He was ranked 82nd in the PTC Order of Merit, comfortably outside the top 24 who made the Finals.[64]

Williams caused a degree of controversy ahead of the World Championship by stating on his Twitter page that he "hates" the tournament's venue, the Crucible Theatre, and hopes it will be played in China soon. He also swore when describing the Grade II listed building. A spokesman from the WPBSA confirmed a statement would be released regarding the matter.[65] Williams was drawn to play Liu Chuang in the first round and won 10–6 to set up a second round clash with O'Sullivan which he lost 6–13. The result meant that Williams has failed to beat O'Sullivan in over 10 years in ranking events.[66] Williams ended the season ranked world number 3.[67] It was revealed by World Snooker that Williams had been fined a total of £4,000 for his comments made before the World Championship.[68]

2012/2013

2013 German Masters

Williams first ranking event of the 2012/2013 season was the Wuxi Classic, where he beat Tom Ford and Mark Allen, before losing 3–5 to Marcus Campbell in the quarter-finals.[69] He went one better at the Shanghai Masters by seeing off Mark Davis, Ricky Walden and Joe Perry to face Judd Trump in the semi-finals.[69] Trump was 5–1 up and on a break of 53 for the match, but Williams came back to trail 4–5 before losing the next frame to come up short of completing a comeback.[70] Williams then suffered a huge dip in form as he lost in the first round of six successive ranking events, with him stating after his defeat to Mark King in the UK Championship that he was contemplating retirement.[71] During his string of defeats he did beat Matthew Stevens in the non-ranking Masters from 4-1 down (Stevens also missed a pot for 5-1), but then lost 1–6 to eventual champion Mark Selby.[69] At the China Open in March Williams won his first match in a ranking event since September with a 5–2 victory against Lü Haotian and continued his run by defeating Ali Carter 5–4, before losing 1–5 to Selby in the quarter-finals.[69] At the World Championship he lost 6–10 to debuting compatriot Michael White in the first round and admitted afterwards that the season had been one he would be looking forward to forgetting, but has committed to playing next year.[72] His poor season saw him drop 12 places in the rankings to world number 15.[73]

2013/2014

2014 German Masters

In July 2013 he won the Rotterdam Open defeating Mark Selby 4–3 in the final.[74] This was Williams' second title in a Players Tour Championship event. However, he had a poor season in the ranking events as he failed to reach a single quarter-final for the first time since the 2006/2007 season.[75] He did earn an encouraging 4–3 win over world number one Neil Robertson at the Welsh Open, saying afterwards that he was glad he had ignored his friend Stephen Hendry's advice to retire and believed he still had ranking event titles left in him.[76] He had chances to move 3–0 ahead in the last 16 against Marco Fu, but lost 4–2 stating that the Williams who won two world titles over 10 years ago was "dead".[77] In the qualifying rounds for the World Championship, Williams lost 10–8 to Alan McManus, meaning he was absent from the tournament for the first time since 1996.[78] Williams finished the campaign as the world number 18, the first time he has ended the season outside of the top 16 in six years.[79]

2014/2015

2015 German Masters

Williams lost in the second round of his first two ranking events of the 2014/2015 season.[80] His first quarter-final of the campaign was at the International Championship and he trailed Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–0, before Williams won five successive frames with a high break of 120. The match would go into a deciding frame which Williams won to beat the five-time world champion for the first time in 12 years.[81] His semi-final match against Mark Allen also went all the way, after Williams had been 7–4 down, and a miss on the final red proved crucial as he was defeated 9–8.[82] He was beaten 6–2 by Stephen Maguire in the third round of the UK Championship.[83]

After knocking out Judd Trump 4–1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, Williams said that he no longer looks at winning tournaments and is currently more concerned with improving his ranking.[84] He then made two centuries in defeating Marco Fu 5–1 to play in the semi-finals of the event for the first time since 2003.[85] Williams took advantage of Ben Woollaston missing chances to send their match into a deciding frame after he had been 5–3 behind, but lost it to just fall short of reaching the final in his home tournament.[86] Williams won through to the final of the minor-ranking Gdynia Open, but was whitewashed 4–0 by Neil Robertson.[87] Despite only being 39 years old, Williams took part in the World Seniors Championship as he would turn 40 before the end of the season and he won the title by beating Fergal O'Brien 2–1.[88] Another ranking event semi-final followed at the Indian Open, where he lost 4–2 to Michael White.[80]

After defeating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first round of the Players Championship Grand Final, Williams produced back-to-back comebacks from 3–1 down to knock out both Mark Selby and Matthew Selt 4–3.[80] He then reached his first major ranking event final in over three years with a 4–2 win over Judd Trump and raced into a 3–0 lead against Joe Perry.[89] However, his highest break in the next four frames was 14 as Perry fought back to triumph 4–3.[90] In a rematch of the 2000 final, Williams played Matthew Stevens in the first round of the World Championship and was thrashed 10–2.[91]

2015/2016

Williams lost 5–1 to Judd Trump in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.[92] He reached the final of the non-ranking General Cup, where he was defeated 7–3 by Marco Fu.[93] He drew Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round of the Masters and was 4–2 ahead. However, the match went to a deciding frame in which Williams missed a risky plant and lost 6–5.[94] He lost in the fourth round of the Welsh Open 4–2 to Mark Selby and in the first round of three other ranking events and in qualifying for the China Open.[93] Williams saw off Graeme Dott 10–4 and Michael Holt 13–8 to reach the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the first time in five years.[93] However, he was then thrashed 13–3 by Ding Junhui with a session to spare.[95]

2016/2017

Williams won a trio of frames to force a decider in the semi-finals of the Riga Masters against Michael Holt, but missed the final brown to be defeated.[96] He reached the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open by beating John Higgins 4–1 and lost 5–4 to Kyren Wilson.[97] He recorded another quarter-final at the UK Championship, but was downed 6–2 by Ronnie O'Sullivan.[98] In the third round of the China Open, Williams came from 4–1 down to eliminate Higgins 5–4 and then thrashed Shaun Murphy 5–1.[99] Another comfortable win followed as he saw off Hossein Vafaei 6–1 to play Mark Selby in the final. Williams needed to win to break back into the top 16 and avoid having to qualify for the World Championship. He was 8–7 up, but lost the last three frames to be beaten 10–8 and fall short of winning his first ranking event for six years.[100] He made it through to the final World Championship qualifying round, before Stuart Carrington beat him 10–7.[101] Mark was noticeably absent from the cast of players at the Crucible's 40th anniversary, Ronnie remarked he was bitter about not qualifying for the championship.

2017/2018

Williams won his first ranking title after a 6 year drought, the Northern Ireland Open, defeating Chinese rising star Yan Bingtao 9–8 in the final; the victory was emotional for Williams, as he revealed that his wife had been suffering from ill health, and he had considered withdrawing from several tournaments. In the Masters, he faced Mark Selby in the first round, recovering from 3–5 behind to defeat the incumbent World Champion 6–5.[102] He lost 6-1 to Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals.

Having beaten Oliver Lines 5–1 and Matthew Stevens 5–3 to qualify for the 2018 German Masters, Williams lost the first two frames of his first-round match against Fergal O'Brien but went on to beat O'Brien 5–3, later overcoming Matthew Selt 5–2 and Jimmy Robertson 5–3 to reach the semi-finals. There, he recorded breaks of 109, 68 and 51 in defeating Judd Trump 6–1 to reach the final, where he would face Graeme Dott. In the final, Williams was dominant, making six breaks over 50 and one century, a 110 in the eighth frame. Dott won the third frame to trail 2–1, compiling a break of 64 after an earlier 56 by Williams, but did not win another, as Williams ran out a 9–1 victor.[103]

Williams advanced to the semi finals of the Crucible fairly comfortably and prior to his match with Barry Hawkins in the semi final said he would do his press conference naked as the world champion if he wins. Barry would prove to be Williams most difficult opponent of the tournament. It wasn't till the eleventh hour literally that Williams was able to level the match at 15-15, from there he secured the lengthy, hard fought frames needed to win. Williams renowned for his cool temperament admitted he was very nervous in that match and hated feeling like that.

Williams reached his first World Championship final since 2003 facing his fellow 'Class of '92' member, John Higgins. The match had been called one of the best finals in the history of the tournament, with Williams winning 18-16 to claim his third World Championship. [104] Despite having the far harder fought semi final, Williams was the better in the first session, winning the first 4 frames, Higgins was able to limit the damage by winning 3 of the next 4 frames. The evening session started more evenly with both players eventually being level for the first time at 7 all but Williams found something to close the last 3 frames to a 10-7 lead. The final day started the same as the first with Williams whitewashing Higgins for the first 4 frames, the first frame started with safety exchanges till Williams missed a long pot towards the bottom right by a big margin, which rebounded and fluked itself on the way back to the top left of the table. That likely dictated the flow of the session half but again John was able to limit the deficit by winning 3 of the next 4 frames. So from the worst margin at 14-7 with Williams having won 7frames in a row in the match Higgins found something to stave off being ended with a session to spare. Even so Mark's lead of 5 frames at 15-10 was still considered too strong even for Higgins to surmount, Steve Davis and John Parrott both wrote him off due to Williams being a solid player in temperament that would not crack under pressure near the finish line, handing Higgins frames with unforced errors.

In the final session Higgins opened with a century and Mark failed to win any frames despite being on sizeable breaks in 3 frames of over 40, literally missing a frame ball at least once. The relaxed Williams struck the table out of frustration, unlike his usual cool demeanour. Higgins capitalised on the mistakes making clearances and Williams did not pot a ball at one stage for over 20minutes, missing a ball he would rarely miss to let John in to clear his frames deficit to level the match and the presenters ate their own words at assuming the match was a foregone conclusion. Nevertheless Williams was able to get some form back despite the lack of table time in the fightback barrage from Higgins when it mattered and he secured 2 high breaks, the 2nd being a century to be at the cusp of victory with a 2 frame lead. Williams played aggressively and managed to put together a high break, with Higgins visibly unhappy in his seat with Williams just some pots away from frame ball, Williams however missed the frame ball pink causing much shock and Higgins cleared up to keep the championship going with much anxiety for the crowd and supporters of both players, most notably William's wife Joanne who covered her eyes while Higgins made what seemed an inevitable clearance. Williams did not change his game plan regardless of a decider to be played if he loses the next frame and potted a high risk red to the middle pocket to start a break, this time he did not miss frame ball however he missed a brown on its spot, which Hendry criticised, prompting Higgins to vie for snookers despite needing 3 for any chance to win. It was not to be as Mark landed an excellent long pot with a red.

Williams thanked his late sponsor Ron Skinner, who had died two months before, and who had stuck with Williams when he was struggling in his career, Joanne for convincing him not to retire in the previous year, and Stephen Feeney for turning his game around so dramatically from a year ago.

Playing style

Williams is believed by some snooker pundits to be one of the greatest long potters in the game.[105] He has compiled over 400 competitive centuries during his career,[106] 14th on the all-time list of century makers, despite a tendency to play exhibition shots, or missing on purpose, when a frame is won. He is also well known for his ability to win scrappy frames with his tactical play and picking out shots to nothing.

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 partially colour blind and has difficulty distinguishing between the red and brown balls, once even potting a brown ball believing it to be a red ball.[107]

Personal life

Williams is also a keen poker player.[108] He is proud of his Welsh heritage, and has a tattoo depicting the Welsh Dragon eating the English flag. Williams is a keen Manchester United supporter. Williams and his wife Joanne have three sons: Connor (born April 2004),[4] Kian (born 2007)[109] and Joel (born 2013).[110] Williams is good friends with Matthew Stevens and Stephen Hendry, as well as boxer Joe Calzaghe.[111] Williams was awarded an MBE in June 2004.[112]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1992/
93 		1993/
94 		1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1996/
97 		1997/
98 		1998/
99 		1999/
00 		2000/
01 		2001/
02 		2002/
03 		2003/
04 		2004/
05 		2005/
06 		2006/
07 		2007/
08 		2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19
Ranking[113][nb 1] [nb 2] 119 58 39 16 4 5 3 1 1 2 1 2 9 8 12 22 15 8 1 3 15 18 14 13 16 3
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 3] Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank. SF SF
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR QF
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 4] Tournament Not Held Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event A WD
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 3R SF NH 2R A
World Open[nb 5] LQ 2R 1R 1R W 2R 2R F W QF 3R W 1R 1R WD RR LQ SF SF 1R 1R 2R Not Held 3R QF
European Masters[nb 6] 3R 1R LQ 1R 1R NH W Not Held SF SF 1R 1R QF 1R NR Tournament Not Held LQ QF
English Open Tournament Not Held 4R 3R
International Championship Tournament Not Held 1R 2R SF 2R 1R 3R
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held 1R QF 2R 2R F SF LQ 2R QF 1R QF
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held QF W
UK Championship 1R LQ 3R QF QF 3R 3R W F SF W 2R 2R 3R 3R QF QF 2R F 2R 1R 3R 3R 2R QF 3R
Scottish Open[nb 7] 1R LQ 2R 2R 3R 1R QF F 3R 3R 3R QF Tournament Not Held MR Not Held 4R WD
German Masters[nb 8] Not Held 1R QF 1R NR Tournament Not Held W QF 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R W
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held Non-ranking Event 2R 4R
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR 1R 1R 1R
Welsh Open LQ LQ 3R W SF 1R W 3R SF 2R F 3R 2R QF 2R 3R LQ QF QF 2R 1R 4R SF 4R 1R 3R
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR QF A
Players Championship[nb 9] Tournament Not Held QF DNQ 1R 2R F 1R DNQ SF
China Open[nb 10] Tournament Not Held NR 2R QF F W Not Held QF W 1R QF 1R W 1R 2R QF 2R 3R LQ F QF
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R SF F W 2R 2R W 2R 2R QF 1R 2R 1R 2R SF 2R 1R LQ 1R QF LQ W
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters LQ LQ 1R LQ QF W QF QF 1R F W QF QF QF 1R 1R LQ SF 1R QF QF A A 1R 1R QF
Championship League Tournament Not Held RR RR RR SF RR RR RR RR SF RR 2R
World Seniors Championship Tournament Not Held A VF A A W 1R A A
Romanian Masters Tournament Not Held 1R
Variant format tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 11] Tournament Not Held A SF 1R NH 1R QF QF 1R 1R W
Former ranking tournaments
Dubai Classic[nb 12] LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Not Held Non-Ranking Event F NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 13] LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R QF W W 2R W NR Not Held NR Tournament Not Held
British Open 1R 1R 1R QF W SF 3R 3R 3R 3R SF QF 3R Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event QF 2R SF NH NR Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held NR 3R 2R 3R Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship Tournament Not Held LQ Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 14] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event QF 3R 2R Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 15] Not Held NR Tournament Not Held F A A A A Not Held
Former non-ranking tournaments
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 15] Not Held SF A Tournament Not Held Ranking Event Not Held
China Open[nb 10] Tournament Not Held QF Ranking Event Not Held Ranking Event
German Masters[nb 8] Not Held Ranking Event F Tournament Not Held Ranking Event
Malta Grand Prix Not Held A A SF QF SF R F Tournament Not Held
Champions Cup[nb 16] Not Held A A A QF 1R F F F Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters A A A A A QF 1R QF SF QF Ranking Event NH A Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters A A A A QF A QF SF SF SF QF Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held 1R Ranking Event Tournament Not Held
Pot Black A A Tournament Not Held A W QF Tournament Not Held
European Open[nb 6] Ranking Event Tournament Not Held Ranking Event RR Tournament Not Held Ranking
Premier League[nb 17] A A A A A RR SF F RR SF F SF F A A A A A RR SF A Tournament Not Held
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held QF Ranking
General Cup[nb 18] Tournament Not Held A Tournament Not Held A NH A A A A F Not Held
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held 1R 2R QF 1R 3R SF Ranking
China Championship Tournament Not Held 1R R
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
DQ disqualified from the tournament
NH / Not Held event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event event is/was a ranking event.
RV / Ranking & Variant Format Event means an event is/was a ranking & variant format event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
VF / Variant Format Event means an event is/was a variant format event.
  1. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  4. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  5. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (1992/1993–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  6. ^ a b The event was called the European Open (1992/1993–1996/1997), Irish Open (1998/1999) and Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  7. ^ The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  8. ^ a b The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  9. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  10. ^ a b The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  11. ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
  12. ^ The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
  13. ^ The event was called the Asian Open (1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  14. ^ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  15. ^ a b The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  16. ^ The event was called the Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)
  17. ^ The event was called the northern igue (1992/1993–1996/1997)
  18. ^ The event was called the General Cup International (2004/2005–2011/2012)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 33 (21 titles, 12 runners-up)

Legend
World Championship (3–1)
UK Championship (2–2)
Other (16–9)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1996 Welsh Open England John Parrott 9–3 [114]
Winner 2. 1996 Grand Prix Scotland Euan Henderson 9–5 [115]
Winner 3. 1997 British Open Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–2 [116]
Winner 4. 1998 Irish Open Scotland Alan McManus 9–4 [117]
Winner 5. 1999 Welsh Open (2) Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–8 [114]
Winner 6. 1999 Thailand Masters Scotland Alan McManus 9–7 [118]
Runner-up 1. 1999 World Snooker Championship Scotland Stephen Hendry 11–18 [119]
Runner-up 2. 1999 Grand Prix Scotland John Higgins 8–9 [115]
Winner 7. 1999 UK Championship Wales Matthew Stevens 10–8 [120]
Winner 8. 2000 Thailand Masters (2) Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–5 [118]
Winner 9. 2000 World Snooker Championship Wales Matthew Stevens 18–16 [119]
Runner-up 3. 2000 Malta Grand Prix Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 3–9 [121]
Winner 10. 2000 Grand Prix (2) England Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–5 [115]
Runner-up 4. 2000 Scottish Open England Ronnie O'Sullivan 1–9 [122]
Runner-up 5. 2000 UK Championship Scotland John Higgins 4–10 [120]
Runner-up 6. 2000 China Open England Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–9 [123]
Winner 11. 2002 China Open England Anthony Hamilton 9–8 [123]
Winner 12. 2002 Thailand Masters (3) England Stephen Lee 9–4 [118]
Winner 13. 2002 UK Championship (2) Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 10–9 [120]
Runner-up 7. 2003 Welsh Open Scotland Stephen Hendry 5–9 [114]
Winner 14. 2003 World Snooker Championship (2) Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 18–16 [119]
Winner 15. 2003 LG Cup (3) Scotland John Higgins 9–5 [115]
Winner 16. 2006 China Open (2) Scotland John Higgins 9–8 [123]
Winner 17. 2010 China Open (3) China Ding Junhui 10–6 [123]
Runner-up 8. 2010 UK Championship (2) Scotland John Higgins 9–10 [120]
Winner 18. 2011 German Masters England Mark Selby 9–7 [117]
Runner-up 9. 2011 Australian Goldfields Open England Stuart Bingham 8–9 [60]
Runner-up 10. 2011 Shanghai Masters England Mark Selby 9–10 [123]
Runner-up 11. 2015 Players Tour Championship Finals England Joe Perry 3–4 [124]
Runner-up 12. 2017 China Open England Mark Selby 8–10 [125]
Winner 19. 2017 Northern Ireland Open China Yan Bingtao 9–8 [126]
Winner 20. 2018 German Masters Scotland Graeme Dott 9–1 [127]
Winner 21. 2018 World Snooker Championship (3) Scotland John Higgins 18–16 [128]

Minor-ranking finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 2010 Players Tour Championship – Event 1 Scotland Stephen Maguire 4–0 [129]
Winner 2. 2013 Rotterdam Open England Mark Selby 4–3 [74]
Runner-up 1. 2015 Gdynia Open Australia Neil Robertson 0–4 [130]

Non-ranking finals: 17 (6 titles, 11 runners-up)

Legend
The Masters (2–1)
Premier League (0–3)
Other (4–7)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1994 Benson & Hedges Championship England Rod Lawler 9–5 [131]
Runner-up 1. 1995 WPBSA Minor Tour – Event 6 Scotland Drew Henry 5–6 [132]
Winner 2. 1998 The Masters Scotland Stephen Hendry 10–9 [133]
Runner-up 2. 1998 German Masters England John Parrott 4–6 [117]
Winner 3. 1998 Pontins Professional England Martin Clark 9–6 [134]
Runner-up 3. 1999 Champions Cup Scotland Stephen Hendry 5–7 [135]
Runner-up 4. 2000 Champions Cup (2) England Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–7 [135]
Runner-up 5. 2000 Premier League Snooker Scotland Stephen Hendry 5–9 [136]
Runner-up 6. 2001 Malta Grand Prix Scotland Stephen Hendry 1–7 [121]
Runner-up 7. 2001 Champions Cup (3) Scotland John Higgins 4–7 [135]
Runner-up 8. 2002 The Masters England Paul Hunter 9–10 [133]
Winner 4. 2003 The Masters (2) Scotland Stephen Hendry 10–4 [133]
Runner-up 9. 2003 Premier League Snooker (2) Hong Kong Marco Fu 5–9 [136]
Runner-up 10. 2005 Premier League Snooker (3) England Ronnie O'Sullivan 0–6 [136]
Winner 5. 2006 Pot Black Scotland John Higgins 1–0 [137]
Winner 6. 2015 World Seniors Championship Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien 2–1 [138]
Runner-up 11. 2015 General Cup Hong Kong Marco Fu 3–7

Variant finals: 2 (1 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2009 Six-red World Championship England Mark Davis 3–6
Winner 1. 2017 Six-red World Championship Thailand Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 8–2

Pro-am finals: 3 (3 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1995 Pontins Spring Open England Peter Ebdon 7–4 [139]
Winner 2. 2010 Finnish Snooker Challenge Finland Robin Hull 6–1 [140]
Winner 3. 2012 Austrian Open England Matthew Couch 6–5 [141]

Team finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome No. Year Championship Team Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1999 Nations Cup  Wales  Scotland 6–4 [142]
Runner-up 1. 2000 Nations Cup  Wales  England 4–6 [142]
Winner 2. 2017 CVB Snooker Challenge  Great Britain  China 26–9

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