Mark Williams (snooker player)

For other people named Mark Williams, see Mark Williams (disambiguation).

Mark Williams
MBE
Williams at the 2015 German Masters
Born (1975-03-21) 21 March 1975 (age 49)
Cwm, Gwent, Wales
Sport country Wales
NicknameThe Welsh Potting Machine[1]
Professional1992–present
Highest ranking1 (May 2000–May 2002, May 2003–May 2004, May–September 2011)
Current ranking 7 (as of 30 September 2024)
Maximum breaks3
Century breaks646 (as of 2 October 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking26
Minor-ranking2
World Champion

Mark James Williams MBE (born 21 March 1975) is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time World Champion, winning in 2000, 2003 and 2018.[2] Often noted for his long potting ability, Williams has earned the nickname "The Welsh Potting Machine", and is regarded as one of the greatest snooker players of all time.

Williams turned professional in 1992 and has been ranked the world number one player three times (1999–00, 2000–01 and 2002–03). His most successful season to date was 2002–03, when he won the Triple Crown: the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship. In doing so, he became only the third player, after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, to win all three Triple Crown events in one season. He is the first player (and to date, the only player) to win all three versions of the professional World Championship: the World Snooker Championship, the Six-red World Championship and the World Seniors Championship.

The first left-handed player to win the World Championship,[2] Williams has won 26 ranking tournaments, including two UK Championships (1999 and 2002), making him sixth on the all-time list. He has also won the Masters on two occasions (1998 and 2003). His form began to decline after his second World Championship title in 2003; he then dropped out of the top 16 following the 2007–08 season, but he regained his place for 2009–10. Williams has compiled over 600 century breaks in professional competition, including three maximum breaks. Winning the 2024 Tour Championship aged 49 years and 17 days made him the second-oldest player—after Ray Reardon—to win a professional ranking tournament.

He is one of the group of three players known as the "Class of '92" who all turned professional during the 1992–93 snooker season. They are Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins.

  1. ^ "Mark Williams". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ws profile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).