Mark Williams

Mark James Williams (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". 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, Williams has won 25 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 became the oldest player to make a maximum break in professional competition when he compiled a 147 at the 2022 English Open, aged 47 years and 270 days. Winning the 2023 British Open aged 48 years and 194 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.