MARK WILLIAMS says his heart races more when he is trying to win £100 in the bingo than when he battles for a major snooker title.
The Welshman, 49, lifted the £150,000 Champion of Champions bowl above his head on Sunday night after overcoming Xiao Guodong 10-6 in Bolton.
It is incredible that Willo, who turned professional in 1992 alongside veterans Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, is still competitive and successful as he approaches his sixth decade.
Yet these days he does not get nervous or worried when it comes to the big baize occasions.
In fact, it is when he is down his local bingo hall that the juices get flowing and he feels the sweat dripping off his forehand.
Williams – a three-time world champion – said: “I can’t really believe I’m still winning tournaments. I don’t know how I’m still doing it.
“I’m still winning and long may it continue.
“Being laid-back is definitely the main reason I’m still going. No defeat bothers me.
“I try my best. If I lose, I’ve got no problem with it, I can shake a man’s hand and forget about it.
“It’s a snooker match at the end of the day and I’ve always been like that.
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“If I win, great. If I don’t, get on with it. There are a lot worse things happening.
“But I don’t know how to explain this. When I’m playing out there in that final all day there wasn’t one bit of nerves jangling, my heart never started beating fast throughout the whole final.
“I just felt nothing. No pressure. Nothing.
“A few days ago, I was in a bingo hall, it’s a full house for £100. I want eight and four for the full house and my heart is pounding like crazy.
“Work that out? My heart feels like it’s going to come out of my chest for number 84 for £100.
“And in a final for £150,000, I don’t feel nothing. I’m just as calm as you can be. It didn’t come in and I didn’t win!”
Grounded Williams – who will be back in action on the night of Tuesday November 26 in the UK Championship – plans to visit the bingo on Wednesday and see if he has good fortune on his side.
The Gwent-born potter said: “It’s all luck. I do my nuts on there!
“I play the lates and stay there till the last one. I get 30 or 40 pound coins. I’m playing the colours and numbers, I’m chucking pounds in like confetti.
“It’s good. I take my mother and my mother-in-law. My boy actually came with me last time. It’s good fun.
“I’ve never won, I’ve never had a house. I’m just waiting for my number to come up and I’ll shout the biggest ‘bingo’ so everyone will look.
“I’ve never won a penny. My luck is rubbish!”
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
Most World Titles (modern era)
