Mark Williams

He has also won the Masters on two occasions, in 1998 and 2003. Williams' most successful season in his career to date was the 2002/2003 season, when he won the acclaimed treble of tournaments (known as the Triple Crown): the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship. He is the third player after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to win all three Triple Crown events in one season. Read Less

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. These results enabled him to reclaim the number 1 spot at the of the season. Read Less

He is one of several players who have compiled over 200 centuries, as he has compiled over 250 century breaks, 8th on the all-time list.

Williams started playing snooker at an early age and scored his first century when he was 13. He won his first junior event when he was 11 and it was then that he realised that he wanted to pursue a career as a snooker player. He was encouraged to play by his father Dilwyn, who was a miner. When he was 15 he did a 12 hour shift down the mines. Williams was also a promising Amateur boxer, being undefeated in 12 fights as a schoolboy, but he decided to pursue his snooker career instead. Read Less

Despite this injury he played in Shanghai, wearing a cast on his wrist because removal of the cast could have caused long term damage. There he won his first round match against Joe Swail 5–3, but lost in the next round against John Higgins 1–5. In the Grand Prix he secured wins over Stuart Bingham, Stephen Hendry and Robert Milkins on his way to the semi-finals but despite racking up a 142 (the highest break of the tournament) in the first frame against Ding Junhui, he lost 1–6.

In the UK Championship he lead Graeme Dott 6–2, before Dott retired due to illness and thus winning the match 9–2. After this he lost his next match against Peter Lines 8–9. At the Masters he won his wild card round match, beating Rory McLeod 6–2. Then 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 4x4 his sponsors had lent him, which was carrying Williams and Stephen Hendry to a restaurant. In the quarter-finals he defeated Shaun Murphy 6–4, but eventually lost a high quality match in the semi-finals 5–6 against Ronnie O'Sullivan. In the Welsh Open, he reached the quarter-finals, beating Fergal O'Brien 5–2, Andrew Higginson 5–0 before losing against Stephen Maguire 1–5. Read Less