Williams: I would never compare myself to O'Sullivan and Higgins
Mark Williams was embarrassed that he, along with O'Sullivan and Higgins, was called the "75 Three Masters". The three went professional together in 1992 and remained the elite of the snooker arena for nearly 30 years. (Related reading: [Billiards News] Williams interview not to be missed!) Many of your concerns Listen to what he has to say? ）
Williams holds 24 ranking titles, including three World Championship titles, but he considers himself far behind two other old rivals and would rather not be mentioned with them.
"People keep saying that and putting my name in. But I only felt embarrassed. I don't want people to put me in a discussion with them because they're the best players I've ever seen in my life. ”
"I always have to beat John, Ronnie or Hendry, or most of them, to win these games. So I'm incredibly proud of the championship I've won, but I'm embarrassed by discussions like '75 Sanjie' and 'Class 92'. For God's sake, don't take me with you when you mention them. I was embarrassed. I would never put myself in a position close to them. ”
This season, Higgins has suffered painful defeats in the finals of the Northern Ireland Open and the English Open (both 8-6 to match points and then 8-9). During the English Open, Higgins once believed that he was a better player than before, but after losing the final, he expressed doubts about his ability and felt that he could not return to the top.
Williams disagreed with the two diametrically opposed comments, arguing that neither Higgins nor O'Sullivan were as good as they once were, but still had enough ability to compete with anyone.
"I don't agree with John's statement that 'I can't get to that level myself', he and O'Sullivan can stand out in any game, they are so good."
'They are the same players in the top five or six of the world as they were 25 years ago, and they are nowhere near the same as they were 20 years ago, but they can still reach the finals."
"It's all personal opinion, but when Higgins says he's as good as ever, I'm surprised because I don't think so, and I don't think O'Sullivan can either. They are far from who they once were. I think a lot of people will agree with me, but they're still very good. 25 years later, it's still in the top five and six in the world, which is enough to prove how great the two of them are. As I said before, I was embarrassed when people mentioned me. ”
"Higgins from 5 to 10 years ago should have been able to win the final with Robertson, but age will hold us all back. Now you're going to concede some goals and you don't understand why you can't score, but that's the reality. ”
"He wouldn't have been like that in the past. At his peak 10 years ago, these two finals (will not lose). Ronnie lost five finals last season in the same way. It wasn't going to be that way before, and they might have won 90 percent of the finals. ”
"Age doesn't stay for anybody, and the older you get, the stronger you don't get, there's going to be some decline. It's okay, Higgins have reached two finals, Ronnie has been able to get to the finals, they're not at the same level as the others. They can reach the finals by the age of 50. ”
In stark contrast to O'Sullivan and Higgins, who have been the backdrop for the finals, Williams has won three of the last five finals, winning both the British Open and the WST Pro Series this year. Williams thinks the reason may be that she won't put too much pressure on herself and wouldn't expect to win more titles at this age.
"A couple of finals over the last few years, I didn't even care at all. Of course I want to win, but if I lose, it doesn't matter. ”
"It makes me happy to be in the final, just do my best, who knows how many more chances I have." If you lose, so what, you expect to lose, and most people probably think so. Just enjoy. ”
"I've won more finals than the two of them in the last few years, and that's probably why, I don't know. If it suddenly misses, so be it, I expected. ”
Williams considers O'Sullivan and Higgins to be the two greatest players, so where does he put himself? McManus was recently asked how to rank several great players and the Scots found it difficult to determine whether to put Williams or Selby in fifth place (McManus' fourth in mind was Steve Davis). Williams, for her part, considers her historical status inferior to that of Selby.
"O'Sullivan is the best player I've ever seen, a long way ahead of the rest. In my eyes John is close behind, his World Championship title is not Hendrydo, neither is Ronnie, but I would rank both of them ahead of Hendry. Hendry third. ”
"You've got to put Selby ahead of me, he's one more world champion. But that's a topic of discussion that I won't get involved in. As long as you can get into the discussion of this topic, it shows that you are doing a good job. ”
Williams has shown plans to retire in recent years, but now, unless he falls out of the profession, he may not be able to seal the club. If he falls out of the profession, he does not rule out continuing to play in the Elder Race. O'Sullivan, on the other hand, declared during the English Open that he could play for up to three more years. Williams was as dismissive of rocket remarks as Higgins.
"He's been retiring for almost 25 years! I played with him when I was about 10 years old, and when he was 14 I thought he was going to retire. You can be half-convinced, all I know is that he's not going to retire. But I know that too. There are games in which he is absent-minded and purely blind. ”
"He would never do that when he was facing me. Every time I played against him, he was crazy and 99% of the time he would fight for his life and almost destroy me. He was like that from about 11 years old, and then I couldn't reach him at all. Now I'm far from him. He was too difficult for me to deal with and I had accepted the reality. That's life. ”
"When I played against him, I never saw him kick off and blow up the pile. When I played with him, I shouldn't have even seen him rub less than three times before hitting the ball. I haven't won him in 15 years, I don't care, I raise my hands, he's too tough for me to deal with. ”
Speaking of the English Open, Williams said publicly after the final that Robertson, who won the final, was "the best batsman I've ever seen". "Yeah, I keep saying that, his batting is outstanding. His clearance in the Final Decider of the English Open was so great that it was difficult to match. ”
Robertson, 39, has only one World Championship title to date, much to the chagrin of many fans and experts, including Williams. "I was amazed that he was so good in every way. His game is pleasing to the eye and he can do things that are difficult for others to do. His shot is very silky, smooth and straight. He was tall and tall, and it wasn't easy to bend down and play such a smooth shot. His game is good. ”
"I've always wanted to see more of his game and see how he managed to get his centre of gravity so low. Very pretty. For these reasons, I was surprised that he had won the World Championships only once. ”
"He said Crucible was a bit small for him, which I can understand because the batting action he likes is not easy to accomplish in Crucible. But I still didn't expect him to win another World Championship. ”
"Another reason for this is the high level of players right now. Top players can perform incredible. ”
On November 23, the first "three major competitions" of the season, the British Championship, began, and the "75 Three Masters" and Robertson will participate.