What the hell has happened to Mark J Williams?

He used to be the Welsh Potting Machine, but for the past year he can hardly win a match :rolleyes:

He's now just lost again in the 3rd round or Q/F (can't remember which one it was). :(

This guy used to be unstoppable, but now if he wins a match it's a miracle. What has happend to him and why?

Do you think he'll get his form back? I do hope so, I love watching him and my neighbour Ronnie :bow:

Congrats on your 2000th post at CC!

Mark is still an excellent potter but his cue ball control has always been suspicious. now more than 2 years ago for sure!

Oh wow! I didn't realise I had 2000 posts, now 2001 :D How sad am I, 2000 posts :unsure:

Why is his cue ball control worse now? I would have thought that he would have been better than 2 years ago :(

He's a great sport though, one of the only ones that laughs.

This was actually one of the best tournaments Williams has had in ages - I don't think he'd passed the first round of a tournament in over a year.

I don't think he was ever one of the most talented players ever, but what he did have was exceptional single ball-potting skill and a completely unfazed attitude. He rarely missed a pressure pot. Nowadays, his seeming lack of interest is actually working against him and I doubt we'll ever see him at the heights again. His cue ball control today was almost as bad as mine. :blink: It's a shame though because he was always entertaining to watch and a good character...

...unlike the likes of Murphy, current world number 1. :doh: How the hell is he number 1 anyway, he hasn't done anything significant in terms of winning tournaments, and is clearly not as talented as the likes of Ding, Robertson and Maguire, the other up and comers. Unfortunately Ding has never properly recovered from a thrashing he got off Ronnie in one of the major finals last year, complete with disgraceful heckling from the crowd. Hopefully Maguire will send Murphy home and play Ronnie in the final here, although Fu shouldn't be ruled out either.

Gosh - you right, weak era again! ;)

I think Murphy has some talent but I agree less than the ones you mentioned. He still won last night versus Ding but to be fair had the run of the balls the last 2 frames (those that mattered). :shrug:

It'll sound ridiculous, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone as lucky as Murphy in terms of run of the ball. When he won the WC a few years ago, I remember being absolutely astounded at how many times he'd do a bad shot and fluke a snooker or something. He is a good player but world number 1 flatters him - a lot.

Just watching O'Sullivan vs Cope. Cope's one of these young guys with great potting ability but too rough around the edges in other areas of the game, and I don't see him beating Ronnie - he's 4-2 down at the moment, but is a good prospect.

I see Selby is doing a good job of following up his final at the WC, still in this tournament and 2-2 against an in-form Fu in the QF. I'd like to see a rematch of the Grand Prix final, where Fu beat Ronnie, in the SF here.

On Murphy, I was impressed by how he held himslef together to win that WC though. He does have talent.

Selby is one I am watchign cos I think he has huge potential. Still, give me the golden era guys any time - White, Davis, Higgins had much more about them even though technically they were nto as good as today..

Selby has certainly talent but he likes to drag on around the table. He is certainly going to use the slow down tactic versus Ronnie today..or tomorrow!

Should be a good match, I like both players but Ronnie is the snooker equivalent of Federer so Ill be rooting for him :bow:

Absolutely - the guy is a genius :bow: :bow:

Did you see the way he played on Thursday in the Q/F? It was amazing :clap: :clap:

I hope he wins it - I really do.

He lives around the corner from me :D

Selby 5-3 up at the interval, playing some good stuff against an off-key Ronnie apparently. However, the match may have turned after Selby reportedly sarcastically applauded O'Sullivan's return from a toilet break, which seemed to fire the Rocket up. He was 4-1 down before that happened, and I think he'll still win this.

Whoever wins will face Maguire in the final, who thankfully put out Murphy and saved me from having to suffer more of his pretentious religious drivel come tomorrow. I'll be rooting for Maguire no matter who wins, as he's a huge talent who's been underachieving for a while now.

..and the Essex Exocet goes into the lead for the first time, 8-7 ...

And what a way to finish !! A career eighth 147 in the final frame after being behind most of the match :bow: :D

What a 147!!! So smooth again. Shame I could not see it live!!!

I found out in this match that I am not a fan of Selby. Good solid game for sure but he purposedly drags around the table and his applauding of Ronnie coming back from toilets pissed me off too :angry: . I don't like his big smiles to the camera either.

So Selby loss is as enjoyable as Ronnie's 147!!!!!! :kpow2:

Should be a great final. Ronnie to win :)

..And Ronnie rockets to a 3-0 lead. Im off to watch it now

Yes I agree. Ronnie would be difficult to stop today. He had a very bad run of the ball in the first sessions yesterday and despite that hanged on. It might actually be very one sided!

Your prediction was spot on Tenez, 10-2 . :D Ronnie back to his brilliant best .
You should have said 'hung on ' not 'hanged on '. though ;) I dont blame you,English is a strange quirky language :rolleyes:

Thanks Biggy for the correction. Most of my mistakes are due to laaissinnezz! I'll try to make more eff...effo.....effort....from now! ;)

That 147 by Ronnie in the deciding frame was something special. For me, it is on a par as a special 2007 sporting moment with Federer's 5th set resurgence against Nadal at Wimbledon.

To produce that kind of snooker in that situation, not mentioning that he was 6-3 down at one point ... just exceptional. The fact that he hung in there when it wasn't going so well was great too - and it paid off for him. Does anyone know whether anyone else has ever produced a 147 in a deciding frame, say in the last stages of a ranking tournament?

In any case, it certainly made up for Leon winning "the X factor". I don't usually follow these shows (and I didn't follow it much this time), but I thought Rhydian actually possessed a lot of talent, not just with respect to his voice, but actually with his musicality. The fact that he didn't win just confirms my low opinion of these so-called "talent competitions" ... I do hope that dreadful, boring single doesn't make it to #1. :)

I agree that to make a frame-winning clearance in a final frame is an exceptional achievement, but once he'd got past the 75 mark, the pressure of making the 147 was probably off a bit - if he'd missed, I doubt he'd have cared due simply to his relief at winning the match. I think Hendry once made a 147 in a deciding frame too - against O'Sullivan in the final of a tournament. It was even more impressive because Hendry had held a huge lead (8-2 up I think) only to see Ronnie pull it back to 8-8, so he didn't have any momentum at the time.

As for yesterday's match, it was probably the worst final of the last couple of years. Maguire simply had a nightmare in the first session, which had nothing to do with Ronnie's genius. The second session was good quality, which made it even more disappointing. But at least Ronnie is back where he deserves at number 1 in the rankings, and Murphy is ousted from his unwarranted previous position.

Ronnie :yahoo:

I onyl saw a bit becuase I tuned in for the final few frames and it was bloody almost over! Well done Ronnie :ok:

Naughty Ronnie for lettign hsi littel girl walk over the baize though :tsk: :D

yep - very disappointing final...So one sided but after the curse of the balls Ronnie had in the semi, I felt that if he survived that, the balls would roll for him in the final......and they did. Bad luck and stress for McGuire made the outcome "a certainty" as the good Willie woudl say!

China open final was exciting and I would hazard a guess based not on just this tournament,but the whole season,that either Murphy or Maguire will win the World Championship.

Obviously Ronnie can never be counted out,but the latest allegations are bound to mess him up mentally in some way.
Selby for me is just too negative and a throwback to how you won snooker matches in the 70's and the 80's.
He's just not offensive enough to win it.

Then we come to my outside bet Higgins who when he's on form is one of those who's great over the longer frame fomat.If he can play himself into form,then he can win again.

My bet is a sneaking feeling it's Murphy's time again.

I must say I am out of touch with snooker at the moment, but hoping to get into the WC properly and catch up :ok: I've always liked snooker, but I just don't find it as watchable as the Golden Era days. Apparently popularity is really low, which is a shame as it's one fo the toughest sports there is.