OnlineSnooker - Mark Williams

BORN 21st March 1975
BIRTHPLACE Cwm, Wales
TURNED PRO 1992
EARNINGS 00/01 Ł275,064
RANKING 1
HIGHEST RANKING 1
PERSONAL SPONSORS 110sport
Highland Spring
E J Riley

Achievements

2000 - Embassy World Champion
1996, 1999 - Regal Welsh Open
1996, 2000 - Grand Prix
1997 - British Open
1998 - Irish Open
1999, 2000 - Thailand Masters
1999 - Liverpool Victoria UK Championship
1998 - B&H Masters

Biography
When Mark Williams won the 1996 Regal Welsh Open on home turf, TV pundit Willie Thorne said live on air that he thought the talented Welshman would be a one-hit wonder. The Great WT has been forced to eat his words time and again as Williams has established himself as the top name in snooker.

Williams began playing the game in the small Welsh mining town of Cwm, near Ebbw Vale, and became a great success on the Welsh amateur scene. In particular, his great composure at a young age drew attention and admiration.

Like most of his contemporaries in Cwm, Williams also took up boxing, but a by the age of 17 had settled on playing snooker as a professional.

His rise up the world rankings was nothing short of meteoric. In just four seasons, he climbed from 119th to 4th and following his most successful season ever in 1998/99 he had established himself at No.3, and had become one of the few players to win three ranking tournaments in one season.

In 1998 Williams and Stephen Hendry contested an extraordinary final in the B&H Masters. Having trailed 6-9, Williams clawed back to win the title 10-9 on a re-spotted black.

Williams felt that he was underachieving as he made a bad start to the 1998/99 season, but a serious discussion with his manager, Ian Doyle, seemed to settle him down and he set about putting the record straight. Having reached two semi-finals, he went one better to lose the final of the German Masters to John Parrott and went straight from Bingen to win the Irish Open. He added the next two ranking events - the Regal Welsh Open and the Thailand Masters - to go top of the one-year ranking list. His season culminated in his first appearance in the final of a world championship, where he lost out to good pal Stephen Hendry.

Williams's reputation as a bit of a rogue was also beginning to grow. During the 1999 world championship, he revealed that he intended to buy himself a red Ferrari if he won - only for the press to discover that the car was already on order. He is also in the habit of winding up friends, fellow-players and officials backstage, given half the chance.

Williams started the 1999/2000 season as the provisional No.1, but was made to fight for the top spot. However, victories at the UK Championship and the Thailand Masters helped him to secure the dream No.1 slot before the world championship. In winning the Embassy World Championship, he became the first Welshman to claim the title in 20 years, and the first ever left-handed world professional champion. It also consolidated his position as No.1 in the rankings, with a huge 11,000 point lead over John Higgins, whom he beat in the semi-finals on the way to glory at The Crucible.

Last season, Williams reached four major finals - as well as three other semi-finals, but only converted one of these into a title - the Grand Prix. Although he looked a little out of form, he defended his proud record of winning his first match at every ranking tournament for the past two years and kept his top ranking.

Mark stills plays in the same club, The Emporium, Bargoed, where he first picked up a cue. He regards himself as part of the furniture there, and is never bothered by anyone.

Williams loves to play golf, and during the summer break also goes fishing.

Quite apart from his snooker success in the year 2000, Mark also became engaged to girlfriend Joanne Dent last Christmas. Mark still lives in Cwm near his parents and his younger brother.