Starlight Phase III: Mark Williams, Fate Ups and Downs, Endless Fighting

Mark Williams, defeated six opponents, and ultimately failed to get the last ticket to Cruze.

This once the most accurate man in the world, the left-hander Kim, who daunts every professional player, has gone through countless ups and downs in his career, how many times he has fallen, and how many times he has come back. In the end, it is still the urgency of difficult years.

Another veteran, the hero who ended the curtain, had a little bit less unwillingness on his face when he exited the field, and a little bit more decomposed and open-minded. Who doesn’t care about victory or defeat, it’s just an arrangement that can’t escape the years. At the moment we sighed, we couldn’t help but think of the tragic years that belonged only to him.

Welcome to the third issue of “Starlight”: Mark Williams, the fate of ups and downs, endless struggle.

01

The talent of an explosive watch

Talent, genius, or wizard

Mark Williams, born in Wales in 1975. At the age of 11, he won the first youth championship, and at the age of 13, he made his first breakthrough score. If he hadn’t shown extraordinary talent in billiards, he would probably become a coal miner like his father. But in this world, there is no if.

02

sharp and sharp

Satisfied, unparalleled scenery

In 1996, Williams won the first ranking tournament in his career-the Welsh Open, and then won the Grand Prix, the British Championship, and the Wembley Masters one by one. A “new” in the billiards industry is rising.

Williams in the 1999-2000 season is even more brilliant, he won the British Championships and the World Championships double championship, and for the first time ascended to the top of the world.

03

Single-season Grand Slam

How does it feel to stand on top of the world?

A single-season grand slam. Throughout the hundred-year history of snooker, only three people have done it. The legendary 73rd crown Steve Davis, billiards “emperor” Stephen Hendry, and our protagonist today, Mark. Williams (single-season Grand Slam that means winning the World Championships, British Championships, and Masters in one season)

In the LG Cup at the end of the year, he laughed at his opponent Higgins to hit a 147 in the final, but still won the championship. The most accurate man in the world uses the cue in his hand to pick and drop each opponent standing proudly on the top of the world, overlooking all beings.

04

trough or trough

I fell so suddenly

In 2003, Williams, the world’s No. 1 who had just completed a single-season Grand Slam, was proud and unparalleled. At this time, the gap between his ranking points and the second place Hendry was greater than the gap between second and eighth place. But who would know that in the 30 months since then, not only did he never win a championship, he did not even enter the finals of the rankings. Although he continued to reach the quarter-finals or the quarter-finals during this period, he has never been able to make further progress.

05

Jimen Bridge

The only consolation in the long darkness

The Beijing University Gymnasium hosted the Snooker China Open for the first time in 2006, and it has become the home of this event ever since. Because it is located near the Jimen Bridge, North Third Ring Road, Beijing, we now habitually use this place name to refer to this event.

In the 2006 China Open final, Mark Williams and his last ranked opponent Higgins fought for seventeen rounds. In a way that never had one lead more than one game, he won 9-8. The long-awaited ranking champion. This wonderful game is the first memory of the editor watching the snooker game.

Regrettably, this championship did not bring any good luck to Mark. In fact, what followed was a longer championship drought and a more terrible ranking drop, which was the most serious crisis of Mark’s career.

06

darkness before dawn

is it goodbye or the return of the king

After nine consecutive defeats in professional competitions, I didn’t taste the taste of victory for 10 months. The world ranking fell to 22nd. We forgot to explore why he fell so badly. We just wondered if this could be us. I saw him for the last time in Crucible!

07

King’s return

dream, restart where it ended

In 2010, he came to Jimen Bridge for the fifth time. It has been four years since he won the championship last time. During the most difficult period of his career, according to his own later memories, he once decided to end his career if he fell out of the top 32. What makes him gratify is that, to his fans, that all this did not happen, but what he did not expect is that what his fans can’t even imagine is that next, this is about to happen.

In the early spring of Beijing, in the final of the China Open, the majestic Ding Junhui scored 127 points and 116 points in a single stroke, plus three 50+, and quickly took the lead 5-3. Ma Wei, who had been away from the finals for many years, seemed so unfamiliar. So sad. After the opening night of the final, the situation changed suddenly. Ma Wei went down to the two cities to achieve a 6-5 overtake. After Ding Junhui recovered one round, Ma Wei’s accuracy was generally unfavorable. 10-6, Ding never lost. Get any chance, have to face a painful reversal. For Williams, this is his first championship in 48 months. Dreams once ended here, and started here again.

08

Back to No. 1 in the world

This is hardship and the precipitation of life

In 2011, Williams was the number one man in the world. I’m afraid no one knows what he has experienced during the period from 2006 to 2011, what destroyed a season’s Grand Slam player to such a situation, and what kind of powerful force he has to use. In three years, from 44th in the world back to No. 1 in the world, I am afraid that even he himself would not know.

Well, the story ends at the best moment!

Oh! By the way, Williams is also a member of the star family of signing stars.

Mark Williams, abbreviated as “Ma Wei”, nicknamed “Uncle Ma”, commonly known as “Lao Ma”, commonly known as “Ma Guilian”. Born in Wales on March 21, 1975, the most outstanding snooker genius in Wales after Ray Rilton. He is known as the most accurate person on the planet: an old urchin who loves snooker, a sluggish and interesting Weibo controller , A good student who does not seek to make progress. In the long history of snooker, you are not the brightest star in the night sky, but you must be the one with the most unique shape. At a glance, people have to remember you: hey, isn’t this guy Gui Lian’er?

Part of the text in this article is extracted from Zhu Zixiao’s “Jimen Bridge: The Crime and Punishment of Mark Williams”