Mark Williams ‘Embarrassed’ by Class of 92 References

The Welshman has won three World Championship, two UK, and two Masters titles during a glittering career.

Mark Williams admits that he gets uncomfortable when people rank him alongside peers Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins from the fabled Class of ’92.

The Welshman was speaking on the World Snooker Tour Podcast when he opened up on his inclusion among one of the all-time great triumvirates of the game.

“To be honest, I get embarrassed when people mention the Class of ’92 all the time to me,” Williams told Michael McMullan on the WST Podcast this week.

“You shouldn’t be classing me in the style you class Higgins and O’Sullivan – they’ve always been the best two players I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“I was just lucky enough to come through in the same year as them, but when people are classing me in that kind of competition I get a bit embarrassed because I’m nowhere near.

“I’ve nicked a lot of tournaments off them in the same era, as well as (Stephen) Hendry, but I do get a bit embarrassed when they try to compare me with that pair because it’s just night and day.”

In an interesting discussion, the recent British Open champion also reflected on his early years as a professional, which he believes were harder than what the current rookies have to endure today.

“I think it was difficult (turning pro), I think it was a lot more difficult turning pro back then than it is now – it’s a lot easier to make a living out of the game now than it was back then.”

“We used have to go to Blackpool for months on end to play eight, nine, or ten games in one tournament, and hopefully you’d get to the end.

“You’d do it for six or seven tournaments and then you’d go all the way back to the first one where the top 16 came in and do all that.

“Now, you can win one game and you’re on £4,000 or £5,000 – you had to probably win eleven games then. There were a thousand pros and a lot of them weren’t very good, let’s be fair, but you still had to win so many matches.

“It was difficult, but I enjoyed every minute of it, and I think it gave me and probably John Higgins the grounding we needed to play all them games before the top players came in. It stood us in good stead.”

Featured photo credit: WST