Mark Williams (snooker player)

Last updated

Mark Williams
MBE
Mark Williams at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2015-02-05 02.jpg
Williams at the 2015 German Masters
Born (1975-03-21) 21 March 1975 (age 49)
Cwm, Gwent, Wales
Sport countryFlag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
NicknameThe Welsh Potting Machine [1]
Professional1992–present
Highest ranking 1 (May 2000–May 2002, May 2003–May 2004, May–September 2011)
Current ranking 5 (as of 1 March 2025)
Maximum breaks 3
Century breaks 659 (as of 5 March 2025)
Tournament wins
Ranking 26
Minor-ranking 2
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. 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.

Contents

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, 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, 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.

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. The other two are Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins.

Career

Early career

Williams was born in Cwm, near Ebbw Vale, [2] in the Welsh county of Gwent (now the county borough of Blaenau Gwent). He started playing snooker at an early age and won his first junior event when he was eleven years old; it was then that he realised that he wanted to pursue a career as a snooker player. [3] He scored his first century break when he was thirteen, and had achieved his first 147 break by the time he was eighteen. [3] As a schoolboy, he was also a promising amateur boxer, [4] remaining undefeated in twelve fights. [5] He was encouraged to play snooker by his father Dilwyn, who was a coal miner. At the age of fifteen, Williams did a 12-hour shift down the mines. [5]

Williams finished his first season ranked 119th; three years later, he was ranked in the world's top 16 for the 1996–97 season. His first ranking tournament win came in January 1996, when he won the 1996 Welsh Open title, beating John Parrott 9–3 in the final. [6] After failing to qualify for the 1996 World Championship, he won the first ranking event of the new season in October 1996, the Grand Prix, beating surprise finalist Euan Henderson 9–5. [7] In April 1997, he went on to win the British Open, beating Stephen Hendry 9–2 in the final. [8] He also beat Hendry in a "thrilling" final in February 1998, to take his first Masters title, winning 10–9 in a black-ball finish in the deciding frame, after recovering from 6–9 down. [9] At the 1997 World Championship, he was drawn against his coach Terry Griffiths, who was making his last appearance at the Crucible as a player; Williams eventually beat Griffiths 10–9 on the black, [10] but then lost 8–13 to Hendry in the last 16. [11] He reached the semi-finals of the 1998 World Championship, losing 14–17 to Ken Doherty. [12] The following year, at the 1999 World Championship, he made it through to the final and finished the tournament as runner-up to Hendry, losing the final 1118. [13]

1999–2004

The 1999–00 season was a very successful one for Williams who won the 1999 UK Championship and the 2000 World Championship. These results, along with another ranking title at the 2000 Thailand Masters [14] and three runner-up positions, allowed him to capture the world number one position for the first time. [15] At the 1999 UK Championship he defeated Stephen Hendry 96 in the semi-final before defeating Matthew Stevens 108 in the final. [16] In the 2000 World Championship final he came from 7–13 behind against his fellow countryman Stevens to eventually win 18–16. With the victory he became the first left-handed player to win the World Championship at The Crucible. [17] He also produced a notable comeback in his semi-final match against John Higgins, coming from 1014 down to win 17–15. [18] Williams won only one ranking event in the 2000–01 snooker season, the 2000 Grand Prix, with a 9–5 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final, [19] but he was a runner-up in two other ranking events, the 2000 UK Championship, where he lost 410 to Higgins in the final, [20] and the 2000 China Open, where he was beaten 39 by O'Sullivan. [21] This was enough for him to retain his number one ranking, although his title defence at the 2001 World Championship ended in the second round with a 12–13 defeat to Joe Swail. [22]

In the 2001–02 season, Williams also only won one ranking tournament, as he struggled to find his best form from previous seasons, winning the 2002 China Open, where he defeated Anthony Hamilton 9–8 from 5–8 down in the final. [23] However, he then lost to Hamilton 9–13 in the second round of the 2002 World Championship and the number one ranking to O'Sullivan. [24]

The 2002–03 season was exceptional for Williams as he won all three Triple Crown events, the 2002 UK Championship, 2003 Masters and the 2003 World Championship. [25] 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. [25] These results enabled him to reclaim the number one spot at the end of the season. He became just the second player, after Ray Reardon, to reclaim the number one ranking. [26] In the UK Championship final he beat Ken Doherty 10–9, [27] and in the Masters he beat Hendry in the final 10–4. [28] Before the 2003 World Championship he had a scare with his cue when it was damaged and bent on his flight with Ryanair to play in the Irish Masters, but he had it repaired before the tournament. [29]

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 [30] before facing Doherty in the final. He led 10–2, and looked to be heading for an emphatic 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. [31] [32]

The following season, he lost in the first round of the 2003 UK Championship to Fergal O'Brien, [33] a match which ended his record run of 48 tournaments in which he had won his first match. [34] In February, he was unable to defend his title at the 2004 Masters. He beat Stevens in the first round but then lost a close match to Paul Hunter 56 in the quarter-final. [35] 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, [36] and he endured a run of poor form over the 2004–05 season, dropping to ninth in the world rankings for the 2005–06 season.

2005–2009

On 20 April at the 2005 World Snooker Championship, Williams 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, [37] [38] but he then lost in the second round to Ian McCulloch 12–13. [39]

On 26 March 2006, Williams won his 16th ranking event, his first in two and a half years, at the 2006 China Open in Beijing, beating John Higgins 9–8 in the final. [40] This helped him return to the top eight 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 [41] and Mark Selby 13–8 [42] 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). [43] [44] In a close-fought match, O'Sullivan eventually won 13–11. [45] 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. [46]

On 2 September 2006, Williams won the Pot Black trophy, after compiling a century break (119) in the final against Higgins. [47] However, Williams had perhaps the worst season of his career in 2006–07, losing his first match in several tournaments, including the 2007 World Championship, where he lost 910 to Joe Swail. [48] However, he retained his top 16 place, mainly through the ranking points he had earned the previous season.

His first win of the 2007–08 season came in the 2007 Grand Prix with a 4–3 win over Ian McCulloch, [49] but he still failed to qualify for the last 16 of the event and was outside the top 32 on the provisional ranking list.

At the 2007 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 he trailed 0–4 and 1–5. However, Williams produced a comeback to win eight successive frames and he won the match 9–5. [50] In the quarter-finals, Stephen Maguire was too strong and beat him 9–5. [51]

After a 2–6 first round loss to Ken Doherty in the 2008 Masters, Williams revealed he was considering retirement from the game if he dropped out of the top 32 and was forced to play in all the qualifying competitions, although then only 32 years old. [52] But he also claimed at the 2008 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 2008 China Open, but he could not reach his first semi-final for two years, losing 3–5 to Ryan Day. [53] At the 2008 World Championship he defeated Mark Davis; however, a 7–13 defeat to O'Sullivan in the second round forced him out of the top 16, pushing him into the qualifiers for 2008/2009. [54] On 8 July 2008 it was announced that Williams had split from his management company 110 Sport, following O'Sullivan and Maguire. [55]

In the 2008–09 season, he reached the quarter-finals of the 2008 Shanghai Masters and 2008 UK Championship, but also suffered three qualifying defeats. At the UK Championship his form inproved as he beat Mark Selby [56] and Graeme Dott 9–7, [57] before losing narrowly 8–9 to Ali Carter. [58] He also qualified for the 2009 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. [59] However, he had done enough to return to the top 16 at the end of the season.

2009–10 season

The 2009–10 season started badly when Williams broke his wrist in a fall at home, less than a month before the 2009 Shanghai Masters, the first ranking event of the season. [60] He played in Shanghai despite the injury, but wore a cast on his wrist. [61] There he won his first round match against Joe Swail 5–3, but lost in the next round against John Higgins 1–5. [62] In the 2009 Grand Prix he secured wins over Stuart Bingham, Stephen Hendry and Robert Milkins on his way to the semi-finals. Despite making a break of 142 (the highest break of the tournament) in the first frame against Ding Junhui, he lost 1–6. [63]

At the 2009 UK Championship he led Graeme Dott 6–2, before Dott retired due to illness and Williams thus won the match 9–2. After this he lost his next match against Peter Lines 8–9 in the last 16. At the 2010 Masters 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 4×4 that his sponsors had lent him, [64] which was carrying Williams and Hendry to a restaurant. [65] In the quarter-finals he defeated Shaun Murphy 6–4, but eventually lost a high-quality match in the semi-final 5–6 against Ronnie O'Sullivan. [66] In the 2010 Welsh Open, he reached the quarter-finals, beating Fergal O'Brien 5–2 and Andrew Higginson 5–0, before losing against Stephen Maguire 1–5. [67]

After these signs of form, in April 2010 he won his first ranking tournament in four years – the 2010 China Open. [68] 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 stage, Williams eventually won the match 10–6. This was his 17th ranking event win and his third 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." [69]

At the 2010 World Championship, Williams defeated Marcus Campbell 10–5 in the first round, but lost his second-round match against O'Sullivan 10–13. [70] He finished the season ranked eighth.

2010–11 season

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, whose appointment as the new Chairman of World Snooker Williams has supported. [71] [72] [73] Williams finished 6th on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit. [74]

Williams reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Open, where he lost 2–3 against eventual winner Neil Robertson. [75]

He was selected to compete in the 2010 Premier League and this marked the first time that he had competed in the event for five years, [76] However, he failed to qualify for the semi-finals. [77] At the 2010 UK Championship he reached the final, his run including a 9–8 victory over Shaun Murphy in the semi-final after trailing 6–8, [78] but lost against John Higgins 9–10 in the final, after leading 7–2 and 9–5 during 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. [79] Williams's next tournament was the 2011 Masters, where he lost 4–6 in the first round against Ding Junhui. [80] Williams won the first ranking event of 2011, the 2011 German Masters, by defeating Mark Selby 9–7 in the final. [81] [82] At the 2011 China Open Williams lost in the first round 4–5 against Stephen Lee, despite making four centuries. [83]

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. [84] He then won his quarter-final against Mark Allen 13–5, and in doing so he reached the semi-final stage for the first time since 2003, [85] but lost 14–17 against Higgins. [84] As a result of Selby's exit from the tournament Williams became the new world number one after the event. [86]

2011–12 season

At the 2011 World Cup, Williams was partnered with Matthew Stevens to represent Wales, and they reached the semi-finals, losing 1–4 against China. [87] Williams then reached the final of the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open, but lost 8–9 against Stuart Bingham, after leading 8–5 at one point of the match. [88] Williams also lost from a winning position in the final of the next major ranking event, the 2011 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. [89] He was beaten in the last 16 of the 2011 UK Championship by Ricky Walden [90] and reached the quarter-finals in his defence of the 2012 German Masters, where he succumbed 3–5 to Stephen Lee. [91] Williams suffered a 1–5 defeat to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the 2012 China Open. [92]

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. [93]

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. [94] 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 had failed to beat O'Sullivan in over 10 years in ranking events. [95] Williams ended the season ranked world number 3. [96] It was revealed by World Snooker that Williams had been fined a total of £4,000 for his comments made before the World Championship. [97]

2012–13 season

2013 German Masters Mark Williams at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2013-01-30 07.jpg
2013 German Masters

Williams first ranking event of the 2012–13 season was the 2012 Wuxi Classic, where he beat Tom Ford and Mark Allen, before losing 3–5 to Marcus Campbell in the quarter-finals. [98] He went one better at the 2012 Shanghai Masters by seeing off Mark Davis, Ricky Walden and Joe Perry to face Judd Trump in the semi-finals. [98] 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, and Trump beat Williams 6–4. [99] Williams then suffered a huge dip in form as he lost in the first round of six successive ranking events; after his defeat to Mark King in the 2012 UK Championship he suggested that he was contemplating retirement. [100]

During his string of defeats he did beat Matthew Stevens in the non-ranking 2013 Masters from 1–4 down (Stevens also missed a pot for 5–1), but then lost 1–6 to eventual champion Mark Selby. [98] At the 2013 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. [98] At the 2013 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 he was committed to playing next year. [101] His poor season saw him drop 12 places in the rankings to world number 15. [102]

2013–14 season

2014 German Masters Mark Williams at Snooker German Masters (Martin Rulsch) 2014-01-30 01.jpg
2014 German Masters

In July 2013 he won the Rotterdam Open, defeating Mark Selby 4–3 in the final. [103] This was Williams's 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 2006–07 season. [104] He did earn an encouraging 4–3 win over world number one Neil Robertson at the 2014 Welsh Open; Williams said 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. [105] He had chances to move 3–0 ahead in the last 16 against Marco Fu, but eventually lost 2–4; afterwards he said that the Williams who won two world titles over 10 years ago was "dead". [106] In the qualifying rounds for the 2014 World Championship, Williams lost 8–10 to Alan McManus, meaning he was absent from the tournament for the first time since 1996. [107] Williams finished the campaign as the world number 18, the first time he had ended the season outside the top 16 in six years. [108]

2014–15 season

2015 German Masters Mark Williams at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2015-02-05 01.jpg
2015 German Masters

Williams lost in the second round of his first two ranking events of the 2014–15 season. [109] His first quarter-final of the campaign was at the 2014 International Championship and he trailed Ronnie O'Sullivan 0–3, before winning five successive frames with a high break of 120. The match went into a deciding frame, which Williams won to beat the five-time world champion for the first time in 12 years. [110] His semi-final match against Mark Allen also went all the way, after Williams had been 4–7 down, and a miss on the final red proved crucial as he was defeated 8–9. [111] He was beaten 2–6 by Stephen Maguire in the third round of the 2014 UK Championship. [112]

After knocking out Judd Trump 4–1 to reach the quarter-finals of the 2015 Welsh Open, Williams said that he no longer expected to win tournaments and was more concerned with improving his ranking. [113] He then made two centuries in defeating Marco Fu 5–1 to reach the semi-finals of the event for the first time since 2003. [114] Williams took advantage of Ben Woollaston missing chances to send their match into a deciding frame after he had been 3–5 behind, but lost it to just fall short of reaching the final in his home tournament. [115] Williams won through to the final of the minor-ranking Gdynia Open, but was whitewashed 0–4 by Neil Robertson. [116] Despite only being 39 years old, Williams took part in the 2015 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. [117] Another ranking event semi-final followed at the 2015 Indian Open, where he lost 2–4 to Michael White. [109]

After defeating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first round of the Players Championship Grand Final, Williams produced back-to-back comebacks from 1–3 down to knock out both Mark Selby and Matthew Selt 4–3. [109] 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. [118] However, his highest break in the next four frames was 14 as Perry fought back to triumph 3–4. [119] In a rematch of the 2000 final, Williams played Matthew Stevens in the first round of the 2015 World Championship and was thrashed 2–10. [120]

2015–16 season

Williams lost 1–5 to Judd Trump in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Shanghai Masters. [121] He reached the final of the non-ranking 2015 General Cup, where he was defeated 3–7 by Marco Fu. [122] At the 2015 UK Championship, Williams was knocked out in the second round by Tom Ford 56 after Williams had led 53. [123] He drew Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round of the 2016 Masters and was 4–2 ahead. However, the match went to a deciding frame in which Williams missed a risky plant and lost 5–6. [124] He lost in the fourth round of the 2016 Welsh Open 2–4 to Mark Selby and in the first round of three other ranking events and in qualifying for the 2016 China Open. [122] Williams defeated Graeme Dott 10–4 and Michael Holt 13–8 to reach the quarter-finals of the 2016 World Championship for the first time in five years. [122] However, he was then thrashed 3–13 by Ding Junhui in the quarter-final, with a session to spare. [125]

2016–17 season

Williams won a trio of frames to force a decider in the semi-finals of the 2016 Riga Masters against Michael Holt, but missed the final brown to be defeated. [126] He reached the quarter-finals of the 2016 Northern Ireland Open by beating John Higgins 4–1, but then lost 4–5 to Kyren Wilson. [127] He recorded another quarter-final at the 2016 UK Championship, but was beaten 2–6 by Ronnie O'Sullivan. [128] In the third round of the 2017 China Open, Williams came from 1–4 down to eliminate Higgins 5–4 and then defeated Shaun Murphy 5–1. [129] Another comfortable win followed as he beat 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 2017 World Championship. He was 8–7 up, but lost the last three frames to be beaten 8–10, falling short of winning his first ranking event for six years. [130] He made it through to the final World Championship qualifying round, before Stuart Carrington beat him 710. [131] Williams therefore missed only his second World Championship since he had made his first appearance at the tournament in 1997. [132]

2017–18 season

In September 2017, Williams won the Six-red World Championship after defeating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 82 in the final in Bangkok. With the scores level at 22, Williams won six consecutive frames to seal the victory. [133] Williams then won his first ranking title after a six-year drought, the 2017 Northern Ireland Open, defeating Chinese rising star Yan Bingtao 9–8 in the final; [134] 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 2018 Masters, he faced Mark Selby in the first round, recovering from 3–5 behind to defeat the incumbent World Champion 6–5. [135] He lost 1–6 to Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals. [136]

Williams qualified for the 2018 German Masters and lost the first two frames of his first-round match against Fergal O'Brien but made a comeback to win 5–3, He then defeated 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 faced Graeme Dott. In the final, Williams was dominant, making six breaks over 50 and one century, a 110 in the eighth frame as he claimed a 9–1 victory. [137]

Williams advanced to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Championship, and before his match with Barry Hawkins in the semi-final said that he would do his press conference naked as the world champion if he won. Hawkins would prove to be Williams's most difficult opponent of the tournament: Williams levelled the match at 15–15 and secured the frames needed to win 1715. [138] Williams reached his first World Championship final since 2003 facing his fellow "Class of '92" member, John Higgins. The match was described as one of the best finals in the history of the tournament, Williams winning 18–16 to claim his third World Championship making him (aged 43 at the time) the oldest winner since Reardon, who was 45 in 1978. [139] (Ronnie O'Sullivan won his sixth world title in 2020, aged 44, meaning that Williams is now the third-oldest winner of a world title in the modern era.) It also marked 15 years since his last title, making it the largest time span between consecutive titles. [140] Following victory, Williams thanked his late sponsor Ron Skinner, who had died two months earlier, his wife for convincing him not to retire, and coach Stephen Feeney for turning his game around so dramatically from a year ago. As promised, Williams appeared naked at his later press conference, [141] but was instructed to wear a towel. [142]

2018–19 season

As world champion, Williams won the second event of the new season, the 2018 World Open. After recovering from 0–3 behind in his quarter-final against Jack Lisowski to win 5–3, [143] he than came back from 2–5 down in his semi-final against Noppon Saengkham to win 6–5. [144] In the final against David Gilbert, Williams again recovered from a sizeable deficit of 5–9 to win the match 10–9. [145] At the 2018 UK Championship, Williams reached the last-16 where he took a 40 lead over Stephen Maguire but ended up losing 56 after Maguire made a comeback. [146] At the 2019 Masters, Williams lost 36 to Neil Robertson, having led 31. [147] At the 2019 World Championship, Williams's defence of his world title ended in the second round, with a 9–13 loss to Gilbert. [148]

2019–20 season

Williams began the 2019–20 season positioned third in the world rankings. In early September, he reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Six-red World Championship, where he lost 5–7 to John Higgins. [149] He later reached the final of the 2019 China Championship; having been 5–9 behind to Shaun Murphy, Williams won four frames to force a deciding frame, which he lost. [150]

During the 2019 UK Championship, Williams commented that he "hates" snooker and would prefer to be playing golf. [151] He then lost 2–6 to Michael White in the second round. [152] He decided not to travel to China to defend his World Open title, and also opted not to play in any of the Home Nations Series tournaments, but he still ended 2019 as world number two.[ citation needed ] At the 2020 World Championship, Williams reached the quarter-final where he played Ronnie O'Sullivan. Williams took a 72 lead but ultimately lost the match 1013. [153]

202021 season

Williams lost in the first round of the 2021 Masters with a 46 defeat to Shaun Murphy. [154] In March, Williams won the 2021 WST Pro Series to win his first title for three years. [155] At the 2021 World Championships, Williams defeated long-term rival John Higgins 137 in the second round [156] before losing 313 in the quarter-final to Mark Selby. [157] During the World Championship, Williams caused some controversy by gently rolling his break off shot off the bottom cushion so it would nestle into the reds as a safety shot. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association players association contacted several players to ask whether the shot should be banned. [158]

202122 season

In August 2021 Williams won his twenty fourth ranking title after defeating Gary Wilson 64 in the final of the British Open. [159] At the 2021 UK Championship, Williams lost 56 to Anthony Hamilton in the second round after reportedly falling asleep during the match. [160] At the 2022 Masters, Williams led Neil Robertson 53 in the semi-final, but Robertson fought back to win, including getting the two snookers that he required to win the final frame. [161] Williams reached the semi-final of the 2022 World Championships where he came from 512 down to level his match at 1616 with Judd Trump, but Trump won the final frame to reach the final. Williams hit sixteen centuries during the tournament to equal Stephen Hendry's record for centuries in a single World Championship. [162]

202223 season

At the 2022 UK Championship, an unwell Williams lost in the first round to Jamie Clarke 36. [163] Williams beat Ronnie O'Sullivan for the first time in eight years at the 2023 Masters with a 65 victory in their quarter-final match. [164] Williams went on to reach the final where he was defeated 810 by Judd Trump. [165] At the 2023 World Championships, Williams was defeated 1113 by Luca Brecel in the second round. [166]

202324 season

In October 2023 Williams beat Mark Selby 107 in the final of the British Open in Cheltenham to become the second oldest winner of a ranking event. [167] At the 2023 UK Championship, Williams was defeated 56 by Ding Junhui in the quarter-final. Williams won the eighth frame 10194 which marked the highest scoring frame in snooker history. [168] In January, Williams lost in the first round of the 2024 Masters to Ali Carter 46. [169] In April 2024 Williams won the Tour Championship after a 105 victory against Ronnie O'Sullivan. He came from 35 down to win seven consecutive frames to claim the victory. [170]

At the 2024 World Championship he suffered a first round defeat to Si Jiahui 910. [171]

202425 season

In September 2024 Williams reached the final of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters where he was defeated 910 by Judd Trump. [172]

2025 Masters MarkWilliams2025Masters.jpg
2025 Masters

In November 2024 Williams won his first Champion of Champions title with a 106 victory over Xiao Guodong. [173] At the 2024 UK Championship he was defeated by Stuart Bingham 56 in the first round, [174] and in the 2025 Masters Williams was defeated 56 by Ding Junhui in the first round. [175]

Playing style

Williams has been described by some snooker pundits as one of the greatest long potters in the game. [176] He has compiled more than 600 competitive centuries during his professional career, [177] and is 9th on the all-time list of century makers.

An unusual aspect of Williams's playing style is a tendency to position his cue directly underneath his body instead of using the rest in an underarm style. He is also known for sometimes playing shots one-handed. Williams has said "I play them all the time in practice, I don't miss many underarm shots". [178] He is partially colour blind and has difficulty distinguishing between the red and brown balls; on one occasion, he potted a brown ball believing it to be red. [179]

Over the course of his career, Williams has earned the nicknames "Sprog", [180] the "Welsh Potting Machine", [181] and "The Welsh Wonder". [182]

Personal life

Williams is also a keen poker player and golfer. [183] [184] He is proud of his Welsh heritage, and has a tattoo depicting the Welsh Dragon eating the English flag. He is a keen Manchester United supporter. Williams and his wife Joanne have three sons: Connor (born April 2004), [4] Kian (born 2007) [185] and Joel (born 2013). [139] He is good friends with fellow snooker professionals Matthew Stevens, Jackson Page and Stephen Hendry, as well as boxer Joe Calzaghe. [184] Williams was awarded an MBE in June 2004. [186]

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
2019/
20
2020/
21
2021/
22
2022/
23
2023/
24
2024/
25
Ranking [187] [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 3 10 11 7 10 9
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventWD RR 2R F 3R
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 3R
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held F
English Open Tournament Not Held 4R 3R 3R 2R WDWD QF 3R 1R
British Open 1R 1R 1R QF W SF 3R 3R 3R 3R SF QF 3R Tournament Not Held W 1R W LQ
Wuhan Open Tournament Not HeldWDWD
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held QF W 2R A 2R 3R QF 1R QF
International Championship Tournament Not Held 1R 2R SF 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R Not Held 1R 3R
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 4R 2R 3R 2R 1R QF 1R
Shoot Out Tournament Not HeldNon-ranking Event 2R 4R A 2R SF F 3R 2R A
Scottish Open [nb 3] 1R LQ 2R 2R 3R 1R QF F 3R 3R 3R QF Tournament Not HeldMRNot Held 4R WDAA 4R WD 3R LQWD
German Masters [nb 4] Not Held 1R QF 1R NRTournament Not Held W QF 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R W QF 2R LQ 1R LQ 1R 1R
Welsh Open LQLQ 3R W SF 1R W 3R SF 2R F 3R 2R QF 2R 3R LQ QF QF 2R 1R 4R SF 4R 1R 3R 2R 3R SF 1R 1R 2R 2R
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 W ANot HeldWDLQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not HeldNR 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R DNQ 1R QF QF 1R
Players Championship [nb 6] Tournament Not Held QF DNQ 1R 2R F 1R DNQ SF QF 1R 1R QF DNQ 1R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held QF DNQDNQ QF DNQ W
World Championship LQLQLQLQ 2R SF F W 2R 2R W 2R 2R QF 1R 2R 1R 2R SF 2R 1R LQ 1R QF LQ W 2R QF QF SF 2R 1R
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not HeldRanking Event QF 2R Not Held 2R 2R
Champion of Champions Tournament Not HeldAAAAA 1R AA 1R A 1R W
Riyadh Season Championship Tournament Not Held 2R SF
The Masters LQLQ 1R LQ QF W QF QF 1R F W QF QF QF 1R 1R LQ SF 1R QF QF AA 1R 1R QF 1R 1R 1R SF F 1R 1R
Championship League Tournament Not Held RR RR RR SF RR RR RR RR SF RR 2R A RR F WDWDAA
World Seniors Championship Tournament Not HeldAAAA W 1R AANHAAAAA
Former ranking tournaments
Asian Classic [nb 7] LQLQLQLQ 2R Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Not HeldNon-Ranking Event F NRTournament Not Held
Thailand Masters [nb 8] LQLQ 1R LQ 2R QF W W 2R W NRTournament Not HeldNRTournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event QF 2R SF NHNRTournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not HeldNR 3R 2R 3R Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship Tournament Not HeldLQTournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic [nb 9] Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event QF 3R 2R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open [nb 10] Not HeldNon-RankingTournament Not Held F AAAATournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held 1R QF 2R 2R F SF LQ 2R QF 1R QF Non-RankingNot HeldNon-Ranking
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 3R SF NH 2R AATournament Not Held
China Open [nb 11] Tournament Not HeldNR 2R QF F W Not Held QF W 1R QF 1R W 1R 2R QF 2R 3R LQ F QF 1R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters [nb 12] Tournament Not HeldMinor-Rank SF SF 2R 2R Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not HeldNR QF 3R F Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held W Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not HeldMR QF AA SF 2R WDNot Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held
European Masters [nb 13] 3R 1R LQ 1R 1R NH W Not Held SF SF 1R 1R QF 1R NRTournament Not HeldLQ QF WD 1R 2R WD SF 2R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Australian Goldfields Open [nb 10] Not Held SF ATournament Not HeldRanking EventTournament Not Held
China International [nb 11] Tournament Not Held QF Ranking EventNot HeldRanking EventTournament Not Held
German Masters [nb 4] Not HeldRanking Event F Tournament Not HeldRanking Event
Millennium Cup Tournament Not Held SF Tournament Not Held
Pontins Professional AAA QF QF W SF QF Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Not HeldAA SF QF SF R F Tournament Not Held
Champions Cup [nb 14] Not HeldAAA QF 1R F F F Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters AAAA QF A QF SF SF SF QF Tournament Not Held
World Champions v Asia Stars Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held 1R Ranking EventTournament Not Held
Irish Masters AAAAA QF 1R QF SF QF Ranking EventNHATournament Not Held
Euro-Asia Masters Challenge Tournament Not Held SF RR Not HeldATournament Not Held
Pot Black AATournament Not HeldA W QF Tournament Not Held
Malta Cup [nb 13] Ranking EventTournament Not HeldRanking Event RR Tournament Not HeldRanking Event
Masters Qualifying Event [nb 15] MR 1R W 3R AAAAAAAANHAAA 2R AATournament Not Held
Power Snooker Tournament Not HeldA 1R Tournament Not Held
Premier League [nb 16] AAAAA RR SF F RR SF F SF F AAAAA RR SF ATournament Not Held
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held QF Ranking Event
General Cup [nb 17] Tournament Not HeldATournament Not HeldANHAAAA F Tournament Not Held
Shoot Out Tournament Not Held 1R 2R QF 1R 3R SF Ranking Event
China Championship Tournament Not Held 1R Ranking EventTournament Not Held
Romanian Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
Macau Masters Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Masters Tournament Not HeldATournament Not Held QF Not Held
Six-red World Championship [nb 18] Tournament Not HeldA SF 2R NH 2R QF QF 2R 2R W 2R SF Not Held 2R Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQlost in the qualifying draw#Rlost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finals
SFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament
DNQdid not qualify for the tournamentAdid not participate in the tournamentWDwithdrew from the tournament
DQdisqualified from the tournament
NH / Not Heldevent was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventevent is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventevent is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking
  3. The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  4. 1 2 The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  5. The event was called the Grand Prix (1992/1993–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
  6. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  7. The event was called the Dubai Classic (1992/1993–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
  8. The event was called the Asian Open (1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  9. The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  10. 1 2 The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  11. 1 2 The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  12. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  13. 1 2 The event was called the European Open (1992/1993–1996/1997), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  14. The event was called the Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)
  15. The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Championship (1990/1991–2002/2003)
  16. The event was called the northern igue (1992/1993–1996/1997)
  17. The event was called the General Cup International (2004/2005–2011/2012)
  18. The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 42 (26 titles)

Legend
World Championship (3–1)
UK Championship (2–2)
Other (21–13)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Winner1. 1996 Welsh Open Flag of England.svg John Parrott 9–3 [188]
Winner2. 1996 Grand Prix Flag of Scotland.svg Euan Henderson 9–5 [189]
Winner3. 1997 British Open Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 9–2 [190]
Winner4. 1998 Irish Open Flag of Scotland.svg Alan McManus 9–4 [191]
Winner5. 1999 Welsh Open (2) Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 9–8 [188]
Winner6. 1999 Thailand Masters Flag of Scotland.svg Alan McManus 9–7 [192]
Runner-up1. 1999 World Snooker Championship Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 11–18 [193]
Runner-up2. 1999 Grand Prix Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 8–9 [189]
Winner7. 1999 UK Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 10–8 [194]
Runner-up3. 2000 Malta Grand Prix Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty 3–9 [195]
Winner8. 2000 Thailand Masters (2) Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 9–5 [192]
Runner-up4. 2000 Scottish Open Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan 1–9 [196]
Winner9. 2000 World Snooker Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 18–16 [193]
Winner10. 2000 Grand Prix (2) Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–5 [189]
Runner-up5. 2000 UK Championship Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 4–10 [194]
Runner-up6. 2000 China Open Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–9 [197]
Winner11. 2002 China Open Flag of England.svg Anthony Hamilton 9–8 [197]
Winner12. 2002 Thailand Masters (3) Flag of England.svg Stephen Lee 9–4 [192]
Winner13. 2002 UK Championship (2) Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty 10–9 [194]
Runner-up7. 2003 Welsh Open Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 5–9 [188]
Winner14. 2003 World Snooker Championship (2) Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty 18–16 [193]
Winner15. 2003 LG Cup (3) Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 9–5 [189]
Winner16. 2006 China Open (2) Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 9–8 [197]
Winner17. 2010 China Open (3) Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui 10–6 [197]
Runner-up8. 2010 UK Championship (2) Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 9–10 [194]
Winner18. 2011 German Masters Flag of England.svg Mark Selby 9–7 [191]
Runner-up9. 2011 Australian Goldfields Open Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 8–9 [88]
Runner-up10. 2011 Shanghai Masters Flag of England.svg Mark Selby 9–10 [197]
Runner-up11. 2015 Players Tour Championship Finals Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 3–4 [198]
Runner-up12. 2017 China Open Flag of England.svg Mark Selby 8–10 [199]
Winner19. 2017 Northern Ireland Open Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Yan Bingtao 9–8 [200]
Winner20. 2018 German Masters (2) Flag of Scotland.svg Graeme Dott 9–1 [201]
Winner21. 2018 World Snooker Championship (3) Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 18–16 [202]
Winner22. 2018 World Open Flag of England.svg David Gilbert 10–9 [203]
Runner-up13. 2019 China Championship Flag of England.svg Shaun Murphy 9–10 [204]
Winner23. 2021 WST Pro Series Flag of England.svg Ali Carter Round-Robin
Winner24. 2021 British Open (2) Flag of England.svg Gary Wilson 6–4
Runner-up14. 2022 Snooker Shoot Out Flag of Iran.svg Hossein Vafaei 0–1
Runner-up15. 2023 Championship League Flag of England.svg Shaun Murphy 0–3
Winner25. 2023 British Open (3) Flag of England.svg Mark Selby 10–7
Winner26. 2024 Tour Championship Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–5
Runner-up16. 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 9–10

Minor-ranking finals: 3 (2 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Winner1. 2010 Players Tour Championship – Event 1 Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire 4–0 [205]
Winner2. 2013 Rotterdam Open Flag of England.svg Mark Selby 4–3 [103]
Runner-up1. 2015 Gdynia Open Flag of Australia (converted).svg Neil Robertson 0–4 [206]

Non-ranking finals: 25 (10 titles)

Legend
The Masters (2–2)
Champion of Champions (1–0)
Premier League (0–3)
Other (7–10)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Winner1. 1994 Benson & Hedges Championship Flag of England.svg Rod Lawler 9–5 [207]
Runner-up1.1995WPBSA Minor Tour – Event 6 Flag of Scotland.svg Drew Henry 5–6 [208]
Winner2. 1998 The Masters Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 10–9 [209]
Winner3. 1998 Pontins Professional Flag of England.svg Martin Clark 9–6 [210]
Runner-up2. 1998 German Masters Flag of England.svg John Parrott 4–6 [191]
Runner-up3. 1999 Champions Cup Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 5–7 [211]
Runner-up4. 2000 Premier League Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 5–9 [212]
Runner-up5. 2000 Champions Cup (2) Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–7 [211]
Runner-up6. 2001 Malta Grand Prix Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 1–7 [195]
Runner-up7. 2001 Champions Cup (3) Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 4–7 [211]
Runner-up8. 2002 The Masters Flag of England.svg Paul Hunter 9–10 [209]
Winner4. 2003 The Masters (2) Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry 10–4 [209]
Runner-up9. 2003 Premier League (2) Flag of Hong Kong.svg Marco Fu 5–9 [212]
Runner-up10. 2005 Premier League (3) Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan 0–6 [212]
Winner5. 2006 Pot Black Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 1–0 [213]
Runner-up11. 2009 Six-red World Championship Flag of England.svg Mark Davis 3–6
Winner6.2010Finnish Challenge Flag of Finland.svg Robin Hull 6–1 [214]
Winner7. 2015 World Seniors Championship Flag of Ireland.svg Fergal O'Brien 2–1 [215]
Runner-up12. 2015 General Cup Flag of Hong Kong.svg Marco Fu 3–7
Winner8. 2017 Six-red World Championship Flag of Thailand.svg Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 8–2
Runner-up13. 2018 Six-red Macau Masters Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins 2–3
Runner-up14. 2021 Championship League Invitational Flag of England.svg Kyren Wilson 2–3 [216]
Runner-up15. 2023 The Masters (2) Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 8–10
Winner9.2023Macau Masters – Event 2 Flag of England.svg Jack Lisowski 9–6 [217]
Winner10. 2024 Champion of Champions Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xiao Guodong 10–6

Pro-am finals: 7 (4 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Winner1.1995 Pontins Spring Open Flag of England.svg Peter Ebdon 7–4 [218]
Winner2.2003TCC Open Snooker Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan 6–1 [219]
Winner3.2004TCC Open Snooker Championship (2) Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan 7–6 [219]
Runner-up1.2006TCC Open Snooker Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Paul Davies 4–7 [219]
Runner-up2.2008TCC Open Snooker Championship (2) Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Lee Walker 5–7 [219]
Runner-up3.2009TCC Open Snooker Championship (3) Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan 4–7 [220]
Winner4.2012 Austrian Open Flag of England.svg Matthew Couch 6–5 [221]

Team finals: 4 (2 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipTeamOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Winner1. 1999 Nations Cup Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 6–4 [222]
Runner-up1. 2000 Nations Cup Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Flag of England.svg  England 4–6 [222]
Winner2. 2017 CVB Snooker ChallengeFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 26–9
Runner-up2.2018 Macau Masters Flag of England.svg Joe Perry
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Marco Fu
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhang Anda
Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ryan Day
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhao Xintong
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Yuelong
1–5

Amateur finals: 10 (5 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Runner-up1.1989Welsh Under-16 Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gareth Chilcott1–3 [223]
Winner1.1990Welsh Under-17 Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Stephen Evans3–0 [224]
Runner-up2.1990Pontins Junior Championship Flag of England.svg Chris Scanlon 2–3 [225]
Winner2.1990Welsh Under-19 Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gareth Chilcott4–0 [226]
Runner-up3.1991 Mita/Sky World Masters – Junior (Under 16) Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 1–6 [227]
Winner3.1991Welsh Under-16 Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Lee Walker 4–1 [228]
Winner4.1991British Under-16 Championship Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 4–0 [229]
Runner-up4.1991Welsh Under-18 Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Lee Walker 2–4 [230]
Winner5.1991UK Under-19 Championship Ulster Banner.svg Declan Hughes 4–1 [231]
Runner-up5.1992Welsh Under-18 Championship(2) Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 1–4 [232]

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