The best potter in business

NONE OTHER than seven -times world snooker champion Stephen Hendry described Mark Williams as the best potter in the world. That was almost exactly one year ago and the compliment was paid just after the Super Scot had beaten Williams 18-12 for his seventh title. It was not just a gracious remark in victory expected from a champion - it was the genuine expression of admiration for the exceptional skills of the Welsh left-hander.

Almost on cue, Williams went on to win two ranking titles and reach the finals of six other tournaments in the season that followed. That awesome display of consistency wrenched the No. 1 spot in the professional rankings from 1998 world champion John Higgins even before a ball was struck in the 1.46 million pounds Embassy World Snooker Championship, irrespective of who won. To be top dog in any walk of life is a supreme accomplishment, but Williams was painfully aware that he was the first world No. 1 who was not also a world champion. This anomaly, however, was rectified when the laid-back Welshman unleashed his potting ability on five hapless opponents over a period of sixteen days to become the 2000 Embassy world champion. It was the fitting finale to what indeed had been a glorious season.

There is no question that the modern game is based on naked aggression. The shots that the current crop goes for would make even the world champions of the previous generation frown in reproof. But fundamental to that gung-ho approach is the ability to pot balls like there is no tomorrow. With the exception of Ronnie O'Sullivan, there is perhaps no player today who combines both these qualities in such a potent mix as Mark Williams. The 25-year-old world champion's greatest strength is that he enjoys shooting from the hip at all times and does so with the careless abandon of a ten-year-old with a new toy. He can and does pot the most outrageous balls imaginable and refuses to back down even when the world title hangs by a thread.

Trailing 6-10 after two sessions of the final against countryman and close friend Matthew Stevens, he was on the edge of disaster when the 22-year-old polished off the first two frames of the third session to close to within six frames of victory. The spectre of the final coming to an end with a session to spare - a huge disappointment to all concerned on the couple of occasions such a debacle occurred at the Crucible- loomed as a very real possibility. The stubborn lefthander, however, refused to capitulate. If anything, his naturally audacious stroke play scaled almost manic levels as he flashed his cue at any and everything. For a while, it seemed sheer folly; but in the end, it worked like magic as he blasted through five of the session's eight frames. That surge, inspired by a heart of oak and some of the most extraordinary potting witnessed at the Crucible, was the key to his 18-16 victory.

Williams' indomitable will and incredible self-belief had previously surfaced in his semi-final against John Higgins whom the Welshman had displaced from the No. 1 position. The smooth- stroking Scot had declared that he was out for revenge and when he led 14-10 in the best- of-33-frames encounter, it seemed, indeed, that he was just a handshake away from the winning post. But calling on every ounce of his phenomenal talent, Williams exploded into an orgy of potting that catapulted him from a virtually hopeless deficit to a 17-15 victory. To do that against anyone in the semi-final of the world championship was enough of a feat; against Higgins who was at the top of his form, it was almost unbelievable. Williams was not the only player who impressed all with his qualities of head and heart. For me, the wonderful performance of `Fairy Tale' Joe Swail, the 30 year old from Belfast, North Ireland, was one of the most endearing stories of this championship. Swail, the first player from his country to reach the semifinal since Dennis Taylor in 1993, had qualified for the Crucible by virtue of a pulsating 10-9 win from 6-9 down against the 19- year-old Stephen Maguire. After easily accounting for 13th seed Peter Ebdon in the first round, he realistically checked out of his room the morning before his final session against former world champion John Parrott, who held a commanding lead. When that lead swelled to 8-12 and with Parrott needing one more frame, Swail once again tapped into his reserves of fortitude and defeated his seasoned opponent 13-12. He went on to defeat Dominic Dale 13-9 in the quarters, but Matthew Stevens brought his fairy tale to an end with a 17-12 victory in the semifinal.

Outstanding play apart, Swail's simplicity and modesty in this age of ruthless professionalism were a revelation. ``I've never won a snooker match and started crying afterwards'', he said after beating Parrott. ``During the last frame, all I thought about was my Mum who died two years ago. She was always behind me''. The partially deaf Swail also has a puckish sense of humour. ``What''? he said, with an impish grin when a reporter asked him whether he had been born deaf. Everybody present dissolved into helpless laughter when they realized that he had heard the question quite clearly.

The 70,000 pounds that he won was about four times more than his previous best payday. ``It will pay off the mortgage'', he said happily and completely without artifice. Even if he never reaches the semifinals again, he has left an indelible impression on the event.

This year's championship was an astonishing kaleidoscope of ups and downs, twists and turns. The tournament was dealt a massive body blow on the opening day when defending champion Stephen Hendry was ousted in the first round against rank outsider Stuart Bingham. It was rocked as violently when crowd favourite O'Sullivan also suffered the same fate against an equally improbable outsider David Gray. Hendry was gunning for his eighth title, while the 24-year-old Londoner was desperate to reach the final destiny that his wonderful gifts make almost inevitable. But if it is a moot point whether the Super Scot, now 31, will win his eighth, is it becoming increasingly probable that O'Sullivan will go the Jimmy White way? It would be a travesty if that happened, as the `Rocket' is at his best, the very embodiment of sublime snooker. That Bingham and Gray faltered in the very next round, the latter by an astonishing 1-13 score against Dominic Dale, is another story.

The tournament was notable in that it marked the first time that two Welshmen had featured in the final of the world championship. It was also the first time that a Welsh player has held the golden double of the U.K. and the World crowns. With Stevens the current Benson and Hedges champion and the 17-year-old Ian Preece the amateur world champion, Welsh standards, always high, have gone ballistic. That tiny, relatively deprived country has prised open Scotland's stranglehold on the game. Perhaps the happiest person in the U.K. is not Williams, but a lucky punter by the name of Kevin Bohn. Ten years ago, Bohn, impressed by the talent of a skinny 15-year-old lad, bet 140 pounds at 30-1 odds that the latter would win the world championship by 2000. Bohn had his heart in his mouth when Williams lost to Hendry last year. With 42,000 pounds burning a hole in his pocket this year, he can afford to laugh all the way to the bank!

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