1 week Ago By Dylan Terry
MARK WILLIAMS awkwardly reacted to a wolf-whistle from a fan during his thrilling win over Kyren Wilson. The three-time world champion, 49, booked his place in the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions with a 6-5 victory over the reigning Crucible king . It is the first time Williams has beaten Wilson - having lost their previous seven meetings.
And one fan in particular was thoroughly impressed as early as the second frame. After the Welshman had made a century break, he continued to clear the table by potting a relatively routine blue. He put a lot of power into the shot to ensure the cue ball made it onto the pink.
READ MORE IN SNOOKER And while the ball travelled around the table, one member of the Bolton crowd produced a wolf-whistle. Williams turned around to see what had happened, before he awkwardly smiled and got back down to the job at hand. While the snooker commentator joked: "Well someone liked that one.
" Williams, who will now face Australian Neil Robertson for a place in the final, led 5-3 before being taken to a decider. Most read in Snooker CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS And he admitted when Wilson was battling back that he thought another chance to beat the Englishman was slipping away. Speaking to ITV, Williams, who left the pundits in hysterics , said: "I thought he was going to come back, he made a good break at 5-4 and then, the 5-4 it was cursed.
"He got into the pack, they split lovely, and then he's gone for a long red, butchered it, and somehow left two reds. "I thought, well, I can't say what I thought, but I just thought I'm not going to win. It's just one of those things.
"But it was a good break on the last frame and I've got him on my mantelpiece now." Meanwhile, Wilson was left frustrated after losing his flawless record to the legend of the game. Talking about losing to Williams at the eighth time of asking, he said: "It’s very flattering because he’s an all-time great.
"I don’t now what it is, maybe his style just suits the way I play. He’s so relaxed out there I think he makes me feel relaxed. I just always enjoy playing Mark.
" 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 hen 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. 1969 - John Spencer 1970 - Ray Reardon 1971 - John Spencer 1972 - Alex Higgins 1973 - Ray Reardon (2) 1974 - Ray Reardon (3) 1975 - Ray Reardon (4) 1976 - Ray Reardon (5) 1977 - John Spencer (2) 1978 - Ray Reardon (6) 1979 - Terry Griffiths 1980 - Cliff Thorburn 1981 - Steve Davis 1982 - Alex Higgins (2) 1983 - Steve Davis (2) 1984 - Steve Davis (3) 1985 - Dennis Taylor 1986 - Joe Johnson 1987 - Steve Davis (4) 1988 - Steve Davis (5) 1989 - Steve Davis (6) 1990 - Stephen Hendry 1991 - John Parrott 1992 - Stephen Hendry (2) 1993 - Stephen Hendry (3) 1994 - Stephen Hendry (4) 1995 - Stephen Hendry (5) 1996 - Stephen Hendry (6) 1997 - Ken Doherty 1998 - John Higgins 1999 - Stephen Hendry (7) 2000 - Mark Williams 2001 - Ronnie O'Sullivan 2002 - Peter Ebdon 2003 - Mark Williams (2) 2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 2005 - Shaun Murphy 2006 - Graeme Dott 2007 - John Higgins (2) 2008 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (3) 2009 - John Higgins (3) 2010 - Neil Robertson 2011 - John Higgins (4) 2012 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (4) 2013 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (5) 2014 - Mark Selby 2015 - Stuart Bingham 2016 - Mark Selby (2) 2017 - Mark Selby (3) 2018 - Mark Williams (3) 2019 - Judd Trump 2020 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) 2021 - Mark Selby (4) 2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (7) 2023 - Luca Brecel 2024 - Kyren Wilson Most World Titles (modern era) 7 - Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan 6 - Ray Reardon, Steve Davis 4 - John Higgins, Mark Selby 3 - John Spencer, Mark Williams 2 - Alex Higgins.
