Neal Foulds snooker column: Mark Williams the Tour Championship hero as Class of 92 lead the way

Mark Williams never ceases to amaze and here we are, on what might be his second, third, maybe even his fourth coming as a player, with the now 49-year-old a two-time winner this season, Sunday night’s Tour Championship victory surely one of the best of his quite remarkable career.

It doesn’t get much better than beating O’Sullivan in the final of one of the biggest events on the calendar, yet to secure a commanding 10-5 triumph over the greatest ever with all the style and panache of old, that must rank very high on Mark's already impressive list of achievements.

His burst in the evening from 5-3 behind, having watched O’Sullivan dominate the end of the opening session, was something to behold. Breaks of 104, 54, 99, 112 and 78, and the job was done, the O’Sullivan who has been close to unbeatable all season a mere spectator and proclaiming after the match that he did well to take five frames from his opponent.

And it wasn’t just in the final. We shouldn’t forget that Williams appeared dead and buried until producing an incredible clearance for the ages in his deciding frame with Tom Ford, before beating Judd Trump 10-4 and producing a breathless display against Mark Allen, racing into a 9-0 lead in that match, at which point his place in the final was all but secured.

In O’Sullivan, Trump and Allen, the Welsh Potting Machine, as he is known, faced off against the best three players of the season, and probably the best three players in the world, and beat them all with relative ease.

What a performance from a man who was apparently jet lagged when he arrived in Manchester and had few expectations for the tournament.

Williams and Walker the dream team

It doesn’t feel that long ago since Mark failed to qualify for the Crucible and his career looked set to peter out quietly. 12 months later and he was back on top of the world, winning his third World Championship in 2018 to confirm his second coming. He’d started working with SightRight earlier that season in a move that might just have saved his career.

Since then, he’s remained a top player, but he lives a very full life away from snooker and makes no apologies for that, and his early-season success at the British Open preceded a quiet spell in which we haven’t really seen him contend at the business end of tournaments.

Mark has always been a fabulous player – and he’ll go down as one of the greats – but he’s very lucky to have Lee Walker in his corner as coach, and I know Mark would say that himself.

Lee was a Crucible quarter-finalist in 1997, the type of player who always got the best out of himself, but I really do think he’s a top-class coach who is very astute and might just be the best in the business.

He’s not the sort of person who wants to be in the spotlight, he just wants to be there for his players, and I’ve watched him and Mark working together. It’s fascinating to watch. Mark might not put the hours in on the practice table likes he used to, but when he does, Lee really puts him through his paces with intense routines that are all about quality over quantity.

At Mark’s age, it’s easy to fall into bad habits like many older players do, but Lee doesn’t allow that to creep into his game and has instilled a real discipline in terms of how Mark lines himself up and approaches the shot.

They’ve got a really good set-up and I honestly don’t believe Mark would been enjoying his latest renaissance without Lee by his side. Second, third, fourth, whatever coming we are onto with Mark now, it’s a real pleasure to be able to watch the ride.

And it’s not just about Mark. Lee is working with Liam Davies, a terrific talent who is playing in the World Championship Qualifiers this week. Lee drove late last night from Manchester to Sheffield to ensure he will be there for his player in the next few days, and don't be surprised if the Welsh youngster makes his mark.

Class of '92 demonstrate enduring quality again

Judd has a similar set-up with his brother Jack, and I do wonder if John Higgins might look at that next season and think about getting someone in his corner.

I know there has been retirement talk from John in recent days, and the bruising defeats he’s suffered in the last 24 months have clearly taken their toll, but the fact remains that he’s still playing some terrific snooker, he’s just lost that knack of winning tournaments.

He’s still one of the best players in the world. We’ve mentioned Ronnie, Judd, Mark [Allen], and now Mark [Williams], but there aren’t many others who are playing to the standard John has been able to and his game is still there.

Since his Dad passed away, John has preferred to go it alone and is clearly a very good thinker who in many ways is self-taught and works most things out for himself, but I know when I was playing, particularly later in my career, it sometimes needed a different pair of eyes to spot something you can’t see yourself.

John might think he’s explored all avenues, but there isn’t much missing from what I can see, and getting someone else involved who can help him recapture that cutting edge might be all that he needs.

I don’t know who that man could be, but do hope John can draw inspiration from what Mark achieved last week and remembers just what a brilliant snooker player he is, one of the best ever. He can still win tournaments, I truly believe that. Maybe he just needs a little bit of help to get back to where he belongs.

What last week again demonstrated was the enduring class and quality of the Class of '92. Ronnie remains the benchmark and the best player in the sport, Mark has just won another big title, and John, despite several near misses, remains a very fine player who is respected by all on the tour.

The remarkable longevity of that trio is in my opinion down to a combination of things. All three are immensely talented, but they’ve not always had things easy and early in their careers, don’t doubt for a second how hard they worked to get where they are.

But the group of players below them in age, and perhaps quality, just haven’t delivered this season. Aside from Allen, the likes Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and Kyren Wilson have gone missing. We’ve actually had very few winners this term and that's been slightly disappointing.

Despite that, I remain convinced that the next big thing is just around the corner, perhaps more likely from the Far East than in the UK, but it will happen and before long, we’ll have snooker’s latest superstar.

We’ll never have another Ronnie O’Sullivan – he’s very much a one-off – but with Ding Junhui playing well again, the next generation in China are bound to be inspired to take up the game, and who knows what that might bring.

ITV snooker season signs off in style

More immediately, I thought the new format, moving from eight to 12 players for the Tour Championship, really worked. I wasn’t sure it would, but in the end we had fantastic seven days which provided a fitting end to the ITV snooker season.

I must say how lucky I am to work with such great people delivering something I know we are all really proud of. The likes of Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty and Alan McManus are well-known and need no introduction, but Jill Douglas steers the ship with aplomb and then we have Dave Hendon and Phil Yates who are real snooker people.

More important than any of us, however, are those who work behind the scenes. We just add the finishing touches, but the producers and all the team make sure everything runs smoothly and is done so very well. I hope you at home watching have enjoyed the snooker as much as we have.

And the Players Series itself has been fantastic once again. There was a conscious effort to step things up this season, particularly with the Tour Championship, and I think that was achieved. The tournament was taken to a big city and staged in a big venue, and I believe it was an upgrade on what we’ve seen before.

Dave made the point about having two tables and two matches ongoing in the early part of the tournament. It meant that in the evening sessions, there was always snooker to watch, even if one match finished early, like quite a few did. I’m not sure everyone who knocked the change in format took that into account, but for television and paying fans, it was a major positive.

As for me, I’m quickly back on the horse with commentary duties for the World Championship Qualifiers. We’re at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield again this year, and are sure to have plenty of drama in store.

All eyes will be Neil Robertson – in the unfamiliar position of needing to qualify for the Crucible this year – but there are others such as Jack Lisowski and Anthony McGill, the latter boasting a terrific Crucible record, who nobody will want to draw in the first round proper.

There are lots of different narratives at play. Many are of course dreaming of reaching the Crucible, for others it’s about winning matches to save tour cards, fighting for their very survival as professional snooker players.

It can be dramatic and make for enthralling viewing, but it’s also brutal and devastating for many. That’s sport, but the World Championship Qualifiers really are unique in so many ways. They call it Judgement Day – and with good reason.