Mark Williams on his mindset in snooker: I don’t even know what concentration is!
:focal(145x121:147x119)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/07/15/3411067-69701524-310-310.jpg)
Updated 14/01/2023 at 18:08 GMT
Three-time world champion Mark Williams says he doesn’t know what concentration is when asked how he keeps his focus 31 years on from when he turned professional. Williams reached The Masters final for the first time since 2003 after thrashing Jack Lisowski 6-0 on Saturday. Stream the 2023 Masters and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk.
‘I don’t even know what concentration is!’ - Williams
Mark Williams says he “doesn’t even know what concentration is” after he whitewashed Jack Lisowski 6-0 in the semi-finals of The Masters.
Williams is seen as one of the most laid-back characters in snooker due to his ability to deal with defeats and his style of play on the baize.
The world No. 7 reached his first final at the Alexandra Palace, having last made the last two at The Masters in 2003 when it was held at the Wembley Conference Centre.
He will take on Judd Trump or Stuart Bingham who play in the other semi-final on Saturday night.
“I don’t even know what concentration is!” Williams remarked in the Eurosport studio when asked about how he keeps his focus 31 years after turning professional.
“I’m just out there playing. There’s always crowd walking around and a bit of noise. When I play in a snooker club there is noise everywhere.”
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/01/14/3525942-71866013-2560-1440.jpg)
Williams blitzes Lisowski to reach Masters final
He added: “I’m enjoying it, I’m in another final, especially after last year. A lot of people said, ‘how would you get over that?’ As soon as I walked out I was over it and I’m back in the final now.
“It’s easy to win but when you lose you have to get over it. I’ve never been worried. If I lost 6-5 from 5-0 up, it wouldn’t have made any difference. I would have said, ‘best of luck Jack’ and move on.”
Lisowski had chances in most of the frames but made mistakes which Williams capitalised on.
In the third frame, Williams made a great break of 74 when the black was tied up, underlining how well he was playing.
“I think I played really good,” he said. “It was a different kind of game. The three or four breaks I had in the 50s, 60s and 70s were as good as any century I had.
“It’s not all about centuries because I’m not going to outpot Jack, or outscore him because he’s one of the best in our game.
“I’ve got to do it other ways like O’Sullivan did to me in the first three frames [of the quarter-finals]. I thought my safety was really good and I had him under pressure.”
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/01/14/3525886-71864893-2560-1440.jpg)
Williams in 'full control' after great break of 74
Williams last won a title in 2021, which was the British Open, and hasn’t played a Triple Crown final since winning the 2018 World Championship.
He had some narrow defeats throughout last season and Eurosport pundit Alan McManus feels his experience showed against Lisowski, who hadn’t won a match at The Masters prior to this week.
“You have to pay tribute to Williams,” said McManus. “He will weigh up the opposition and be aware that Jack was loose against Hossein (Vafaei) so he knew to keep Jack at distance.
“Mark also knows he doesn’t have to play his top game. He’s that good, clever and skilled that he can play at 75 to 80 per cent, he can get the job done.
“I can push the guy around for a few shots, he will give me chances. If you don’t step up against Williams, you will be sitting in your chair for a long period of time. He wasn’t even scoring that heavily today.”
- - -
Stream the 2023 Masters and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk..
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement