Phil Haigh has been speaking to Mark Williams and it’s very interesting

Mark Williams on flying at 50 and why he wants a Ronnie O’Sullivan return ASAP

Mark Williams woke up on his 50th birthday and checked the world rankings, feeling rightfully proud of the number next to his name.

The Welshman reached his half-century last week and sits at number five in the world, which is all the more impressive given he has barely been able to see what he is doing lately.

At the recent Players Championship the three-time world champion admitted that his eyesight has deteriorated to the point that his game is really suffering, so contact lenses are being trialled for the first time at the upcoming Tour Championship, where he is the defending champ.

‘The last week I’ve been using contacts to try and play,’ Williams told Metro. ‘We’ll see, it’s not easy, it’s totally different. I can see everything clearly from the cue ball onwards.

‘It’s pretty weird. The balls look bigger than they ever have. The pockets are all clear, I can see everything. The balls look bigger but the cue ball is still blurry because contacts are for distance.

‘The eyes seem to have got worse in the last three to four months. I could read alright before but now I need reading glasses as well.

‘The best way to describe it is a red is blurry but it’s also three times the size, it’s like having three balls there. With contacts in it’s just one ball and clear as a bell, but it’s looking a lot bigger than normal so it’s a different angle. I’ve not seen it that clear for donkey’s years.’

Williams is renowned for letting almost nothing faze him and he has not allowed blurry balls and foggy, distant pockets stop him achieve remarkable things in the lead-up to his 50th birthday.

A final at the big-money Saudi Arabia Masters did wonders for his ranking, but he has also won the Champion of Champions this season, a non-ranking event but considered one of the most prestigious on the calendar.

He returns to Manchester for the Tour Championship which he won in serious style a year ago and there is no doubt he remains one of the best on the planet.

‘Even if the eyes were perfect I’d still be happy with what I’m doing at 50, competing with players and giving them a run,’ he said.

‘When I was 50 I woke up and looked at the rankings and I think I was at five. My aim was to be in the top 16 when I was 50. I don’t know how it’s possible but that’s what it is. I’m pretty proud of that. Not many people would have thought I’d be doing this well still.

‘I didn’t think I’d still be playing now, especially not in the top echelons of the game.’

Of course Williams is not the only veteran still among the best in the business, with his fellow Class of 92 alumni also still taking the majority of opponents to school.

John Higgins won the recent World Open to climb to number six in the world, while Ronnie O’Sullivan is at number four despite not playing in a ranking event in 2025 so far.

The Rocket has withdrawn from a string of tournaments, last performing at the Championship League in January, and doubts remain over whether he will be at the Crucible next month.

Williams, like the rest of us, does not know what O’Sullivan has got in mind, but would lean towards a World Championship without the seven-time champion this time around.

‘Look, I don’t know what the situation is, but if I was to have a guess now I’d probably say he’s not going to play,’ he said. ‘I don’t know, I’m just guessing.

‘He’s pulled out of the last tournaments so obviously he’s not ready or doesn’t want to play and he’s not going to play in the Worlds for £500,000 to the winner or to take over [Stephen] Hendry’s mantle.

‘I don’t really think he’s worried about that stuff. I know you boys [the media] put it on him that he wants to be past Hendry [on eight world titles] but I honestly don’t think he’s worried about stuff like that.’

O’Sullivan has skipped many events in the past but never the World Championship, not since he made his Crucible debut in 1993 and Williams hopes that the Rocket will land in Sheffield once again.

‘It would be huge and it would be disappointing for our game,’ he said of the 49-year-old possibly withdrawing from the Worlds.

‘All the tournaments that anyone is winning, they’re brilliant and you’ve done well to win it, but when he’s in a tournament it’s different class.

‘You get more crowd in. There’s more buzz. The sponsors are happy. All the other players are fantastic but the crowd only want to come and see him, there’s no one else. He packs it out whether it’s the first round or the final and he’s the only one that can do it. For me and for the game I look forward to when he’s back playing, it will be fantastic.

He’s the one that everyone wants to see and that includes myself. If I had to pay 20-30 quid to go and watch any snooker player it would be him, I wouldn’t want to watch anyone else.

‘He’s the draw. Everything about him. Shots he goes for, breaks, charisma, he walks out of matches, he knocks in 147s, then he doesn’t go for them because the prize money isn’t enough. Everything about him is why everyone wants to watch him play. There’s no one in our game that’s even close to pulling the crowds like him. The money we play for now is down to the likes of him.’

Williams returns next week to the scene of one of his most enjoyable triumphs, when he beat O’Sullivan 10-5 in the final of the Tour Championship in Manchester last year.

‘I don’t beat him that often, he’s one of the ones that absolutely destroys me all the time really,’ he said. ‘But to win one in a final quite convincingly was obviously nice.’

Also, Willo was in Antalya supporting his son Joel, and he was very impressed by Michal Szubarczyk

as reported by Phil Haigh

Mark Williams says 14-year-old wonderkid ‘up there with Ronnie O’Sullivan’ at same age

Mark Williams has watched 14-year-old star Michal Szubarczyk in action and feels he is one of the very best he has ever seen at that age, including Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The Polish teenager took the recent European Championships in Turkey by storm, winning the Under-16s and Under-18s event before reaching the final of the open age event.

That run to the final, which saw him beaten by Liam Highfield, saw him earn a two-year card for the World Snooker Tour, becoming the youngest ever professional in the process.

Szubarczyk will have a huge amount to learn on the professional tour, but Williams was blown away by the talent he showed for his age.

‘I was in Turkey watching the Europeans, I watched a young boy there and came back and told everyone in the club that this is one of the best 14-year-olds I’ve ever seen in my life,’ Williams told Metro. ‘Up there with O’Sullivan. Maybe not as good, but not far away.

‘Every time I watched him he was knocking in 80s, 90s, 100s. It was frightening.

‘I was speaking to John Higgins up in Telford and said: “Watch out for this kid, it’s something I haven’t seen for donkey’s!”’

The step up to the professional game is a big one, and Williams is not saying the youngster will immediately take it by storm, but would expect him to win some matches against current pros.

‘I didn’t think he’d get on the tour this quick, but he’s unbelievable,’ said the three-time world champion. ‘I think he’ll definitely win games.

‘Obviously he’s going to struggle, he’s a 14-year-old boy, but I would have been calling to get him on even if he hadn’t got on. That’s the kind of people you want on.

‘If he drops off he’s got two years’ experience, then if he gets back on at 16-17 he’s ready to beat some people.

‘I’d seen him play the year before in Albania as well. He looked good then but Jesus Christ he’s improved.’

Former Masters champion Alan McManus has taken a different stance and would like to see the wildly talented youngster given the chance to differ his tour card for a year or two, finish school, then take on the pro circuit.

‘He’s 14 years of age and not actually 15 until January 12 of next year. He’s just not long turned 14. He has his schooling and plenty of other stuff, he’s literally just a kid,’ McManus said on his Snooker Breakfast podcast.

I would have absolutely no objection, and I don’t think anyone else would either, I think it would be a nice thing to offer him and his family the chance to put back his tour card by a season. Or maybe even two seasons until he’s actually 16, by which time he may have finished school.’

Szubarczyk and his family may indeed decide not to go full steam ahead into a professional career as early as this year, but it will certainly be tempting for the youngster to have a crack at the big time.

Williams was in Antalya to support his son Joel who is at an even earlier stage of his snooker life, but is keen on pursuing a career in the sport.

Asked if he is behind his son’s interest in pro snooker, he said: ‘Not really. I’d rather him pick a golf club up or a tennis racket, but unfortunately he’s picked a snooker cue up.

‘He loves it at the minute, a bit like I did at that age. I can’t see him picking up a different sport now, but we’ll see.

‘He’s got tough shoes to fill! I’d like to see him do well, but I know how tough it is, it’ll be difficult for him. I’ll give him all the help I can, that’s all I can do, and see what happens.’

Just a few thoughts about those two pieces…

• Obviously Willo would want to see Ronnie at the Crucible, but is not optimistic about it. He wants Ronnie back on tour and he explains why. It’s simple: Ronnie is still snooker biggest asset when it comes to putting bums on seats and selling events. Personally, given how the season has gone, I have prepared myself mentally for a withdrawal.
• Willo was extremely impressed by Michal, rightly so, but I agree with Alan Mc Manus about putting his tour card on hold. He’s still a child and he is must complete mandatory school education. Playing snooker professionally, as an expat, on top of it, would be, in my opinion, far too much for someone so young. It would be a terrible shame if his huge talent was destroyed and if he was left with mental and emotional scars just because of some people being in a hurry.