Snooker column: Mark Williams now a 'man of the people' as snooker great bags latest trophy

"Man of the people" Williams image is relatively new - and it serves the Welsh great brilliantly

Mark Williams mentioned late in 2024 that he felt support from snooker crowds seemed to have grown for him in recent times. It was something of a throwaway comment, but straight away I made him right.

Truth be told, an awful lot has changed in the Williams story in the last decade. There seems to be a myth being pushed that this Welsh sporting great has always had this happy go lucky, bingo playing, kebab munching "man of the people" status.

I'm not sure that's the case really. Certainly not as I remember it. I don't think it's even as historic as the John Lewis Christmas advert. Whisper it quietly, I reckon even the initial promotion of snooker's "Triple Crown" came first.

I remember being in the crowd to see Williams play in the Masters at Alexandra Palace around a dozen years ago. Sure, there was support for him. But there wasn't really any of the frenzied "Come on Willo" passion you see today.

Just after those Williams comments last year, I took to social media to ask others if I was imagining all this. Was Williams always as wildly popular as he is now? I'm pleased to say that there was broad agreement with my instincts.

"I didn’t like him for a long time. Came across as aloof, dour and too cool for school. Probably about ten years ago I started to appreciate him more," was one early response.

"I couldn’t connect with him when he was younger but now he is warm and generous and people route for the good guy," another snooker fan wrote.

"You are right. I never warmed to Mark at all until lately. Not entirely sure why. His persona is very appealing now," was a view that soon followed.

That was the gist of it really. There does seem to have been a before and after. And it struck me again that this "new" Williams image has served him so well.

Not that I'm suggesting that Mark never played bingo or ate a kebab before the last decade, he obviously did. He was always full of dry humour too, and was of course so laidback as to be almost horizontal.

But this business of him being a bona fide "people's champion" - which he himself has been able to cultivate very effectively in this age of 24-7 communication - is a relatively new development.

As it happens, I'd place the change as emanating around the time he hit his lowest point. Williams was faring so badly in the game, he even considered quitting snooker in the spring of 2017.

But with the help of some new coaching, he did carry on and bounced back to his best in glorious fashion, winning the Northern Ireland Open and German Masters.

Then came the big one, the World Championship in 2018. For quite a few years before, nobody seriously thought he could win that tournament again. In fact, he didn't look like getting close to it.

But there he was, 15 years after his last Crucible triumph, beating John Higgins in a classic final to claim his third world crown.

I outlined all this in a special column I wrote about Williams last year - not only the wonderful snooker he played on the table, but his antics off it.

The kebab in the middle of the night after his marathon semi-final win. The sweets he pinched from a Crucible fan (Galaxy Counters - never say I don't do my research) to help fuel himself during the opening session of the final. The clothes he didn't wear for his victory press conference. The media wasn't shy in magnifying all this, naturally, and the public was loving every minute of it.

Williams has carried on in that spirit ever since really. Almost freewheeling his way through snooker and life.

The golf, the beers, the holidays. Williams continues to revel in it all. Fans lap it up too and he's now cheered to the rafters everywhere he plays.

Williams, who will be 51 in the spring, became snooker's oldest ever ranking event winner on Monday when he claimed the Xi'an Grand Prix title, superbly beating Shaun Murphy 10-3 in the final.

It really is stunning stuff. Remember how much of a story it was when Steve Davis, at the age of 39, won the 1997 Masters. Yet here is Williams, who won his first ranking event when John Major was Prime Minister, still putting trophies in his cabinet.

Williams is finding it all so amazing himself, it's little surprise that the rest of us can't get our heads round it. There seems to be no stopping him. And snooker fans can't get enough of it.

Snooker should hold on to Belfast's Waterfront Hall - it's a top level venue

You can just tell when a snooker venue has become top level special. There's such an excitement among fans who are heading there.

The Waterfront Hall in Belfast has reached that status now and everyone in the sport is again relishing the prospect of the Northern Ireland Open, which begins this weekend.

It's tempting to ask the old question, "what are you doing for an encore?" because we've had a succession of memorable stories since the event was first staged in 2016.

A first and only ranking event win for Mark King, a trio of finals between Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Allen winning back-to-back titles on home soil. The highlights have been plentiful.

Kyren Wilson is the defending champion this time round, having impressively beaten Trump in the 2024 Belfast final.

With the future of the Home Nations series - which includes the Northern Ireland Open - not certain, I just hope the Waterfront is retained as a snooker venue, for next season and ideally long beyond. I fancy it will be too.

However you're planning to follow the tournament, enjoy it all.