‘It can’t get any worse’ – Mark Williams to make major change in snooker tournament for first time amid health issue
MARK WILLIAMS will try contact lenses in a tournament for the first time after admitting he struggles to play snooker because he is “HALF BLIND”.
After losing in this month’s Players Championship, the Welsh star, 50, revealed that “every single shot seems blurry” because his “eyes have gone”.
And next Monday evening – when he begins his quest to defend the Tour Championship in Manchester – he will opt for the special measure.
Williams, who faces Ding Junhui in round one of the penultimate event of this season, said: “I’m just taking it a few days at a time.
“I’m going to stick with these contacts now for the Tour Championship.
“I don’t know how they’re going to react with the lights. I’m hoping they won’t be too much of a problem.
“If I’m playing okay with them then I’ll keep them in for the World Championship and see where I go after there.
“The contacts are helping out at the minute. They hurt when they’re in but I might just get used to them.
“It can’t get any worse than the Players because I couldn’t see much.”
Willo told SunSport last month that he was lucky not to be blinded in one eye after a golf ball struck by his son flew backwards and hit him in the face in a freak accident.
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If Williams retains the £150,000 Tour Champ, which has a field of 12 players, he would become the oldest-ever ranking event winner in the sport’s professional era.
This would beat the record of Ray Reardon who was 50 years and 14 days when he won the 1982 Professional Players Championship.
The World No5 won the Champion of Champions in Bolton last November while his other final appearance was a loss to Judd Trump in a 10-9 thriller at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in September.
The three-time world champion said: “When I get on a run I’m dangerous.
“Even when I lost to Judd Trump in the final in Saudi, it was a great match and I was one red away from winning.
“It’s definitely in there, but unfortunately it just doesn’t come out as often as it used to.”
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins