The Welsh snooker legend faces Ali Carter in the final of the English Open
Welsh snooker great Mark Williams is hoping to add another trophy to his impressive collection as he faces Ali Carter in today’s English Open final.
The 51-year-old looked to be heading out at the semi-finals as he found himself 5-1 down to Shaun Murphy last night. However, in arguably the most remarkable comeback of his career, Williams fought back to win 6-5 and make it through to the final, where he now has the chance of breaking his own record as the oldest winner of a ranking event.
After flooring Murphy and setting up a final showdown with Carter, the three-time world champion admitted that even he couldn’t believe what happened, as he told reporters: “I’m not sure how I managed to win. I looked at the scoreboard, saw 5-1 and thought I was out.
“Those matches coming from 5-1 down probably only happen once in a thousand. I just had to stick in and that was the one time it turned round for me.
“It has to be up there with my best comebacks. I was 5-1 down and 60 odd behind on two occasions. I’m over the moon to have a crack at the final now.”
Williams is in fine form, having last year become the oldest-ever ranking event champion with a dominant win over Murphy at the Xi’an Grand Prix, months after finishing runner-up to Zhao Xintong at the World Snooker Championships.
While he continues to defy his age at the table, however, the Welshman is now sporting a thick grey beard, admitting that his new look has not gone down too well with his wife Joanne.
“No, I’m just letting it grow until I feel like shaving it off really,” he said when asked about the beard last month. “The missus don’t like it, that’s why I’m growing it!”
With £100,000 at stake in today’s final in Brentwood – and £45,000 on offer for the runner-up – Williams will add to the impressive £9 million he has earned in prize money over the course of his career.
That total places him fifth on professional snooker’s all-time prize money list, while his total net worth is estimated to be as high as £10 million.
His run to the final comes despite long-term struggles with his eyesight, as he admitted last year that his eyes had “completely gone” and he was now playing in major tournaments while “half-blind”.
Williams added that his condition was “getting worse by the month”, and had been booked in for lens replacement surgery in June last year in a bid to prolong his career “for another four or five years”.
However, he later decided to postpone to surgery amid fears that it could go wrong and end his career for good.
“If it goes wrong, that’s the end,” he said. “That’s the only thing stopping me. I spoke to Anthony Hamilton, who also had it done, and because of the glare of the TV lights, it ruined his career.
“Eventually I’ll get my eyes done but whether or not that’s this year, next year, I don’t know.”
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