MARK WILLIAMS (Wales)

World ranking: 1
Last five seasons: 3-5-4-16-39
Date of birth: 21-03-75
Lives: Cwm, Gwent
Turned professional: 1992
Ranking tournament victories: 9
Last season’s prize money: £557,980
Career prize money: £1,622,003
Highest tournament break: 142

No player may ever dominate snooker again like Steve Davis did in the 1980s and Stephen Hendry in the 1990s but there could be no disputing the fact that Mark Williams finished the 1999-2000 season a worthy world No 1.

Winner of the Liverpool Victoria UK Championship and Thailand Masters - as well as finishing runner-up in the Champions Cup, Grand Prix, Malta Grand Prix and Regal Scottish - Williams was already assured of top spot in the rankings before he arrived at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre for the Embassy World Championship.

He went on to complete a glorious double, victories over John Read (10-4), Drew Henry (13-9), Fergal O’Brien (13-5) and John Higgins (17-15) taking him through to the first-ever all-Welsh final, in which he defeated Matthew Stevens 18-16 after trailing 13-7 at one stage to claim a record £240,000 first prize.

It was the closest Crucible final since Hendry defeated Jimmy White 18-17 in 1994 and Williams showed nerves of steel to become the first left-hander to lift the trophy in the 73-year history of the event.

“This means everything to me,” he declared afterwards. “I have dreamt about this moment since I was kid.

"Even if I had lost I couldn’t have grumbled because I was guaranteed the number one spot. I didn’t want to be too greedy but to do both is really scary.”

His CueMasters manager Ian Doyle said: “No one deserves this more than Mark.

"He has worked his socks off over the last two years and I’m delighted for him. He’s got a big lead in the rankings and he is going to be hard to catch.”

Williams starts the 2000-2001 season nearly 10,000 points ahead of his nearest rival after becoming only the third player to win the UK and world titles in the same season - Stevens had also been his victim in the final at Bournemouth, going down 10-8.

A promising amateur boxer before opting for a career on the green baize, he showed his ability to perform under pressure when winning the Benson and Hedges Masters at Wembley in 1998.

Trailing Hendry 9-6 in the final, he drew level at 9-9 and, at 56-56 in the deciding frame, potted a re-spotted black to land the £145,000 first prize.

Hendry took his revenge in the 1999 world championship final, winning 18-11. But Williams, part of the victorious Welsh team in the 1999 Nations Cup, put that experience to good use a year later.