Snooker legend ‘guessing shots’ as he reveals full extent of sight problems

Mark Williams says his ‘eyes have gone’ and he will have to look into ‘get something done’ as blurred vision leaves him guessing on shots.

The three-time world champion turns 50 this week and has admitted that his eyes have been deteriorating for some time.

The Welshman says his eyesight has now gone severely downhill in the last six months, leaving him guessing on where he is aiming, heavily relying on experience rather than what he can actually see.

It has not stopped him winning, having won the Champion of Champions earlier this season and started his Players Championship campaign with a victory on Monday.

Williams beat Ding Junhui 6-2 in Telford, but said after the win: ‘It was tough. Not great. Ding struggled as well, but I’m over the moon with the win.

‘My eyes have gone. In the last six months they have deteriorated rapidly. Every single shot is blurry to me now, whether it is a straight black off the spot or an easy blue. I’m guessing.

‘I’ll have to look into it after the World Championship and see if I can get something done. How I won that game I don’t know. The lights magnify it a lot more. I can’t see anything.’

While things have got more difficult for him recently, Williams has long been considering laser surgery on his eyes, although he has been worried about an operation going wrong and entirely ruining his eyesight.

Speaking to Metro back in October 2023, he said: ‘My eyesight is nowhere near as good as it used to be. that’s declined over the last 18 months and is getting worse every six months or so.

‘I’ve got glasses now and when I put them on it’s unbelievable, I can see everything and that’s when I realise how bad my eyes actually are.

‘I was thinking about getting my eyes lasered this year and the only reason I haven’t is because I’m still playing to a decent standard.

‘Not everything is successful when you do things with your eyes. It’s just in case something didn’t go well and then that’s the end of your career, really. I’ll keep evaluating it every year and maybe get it done at some point.

‘When I put my glasses on and look at the table it’s unbelievable. The balls looks like footballs, the cloth is lovely green, I can see the pockets clearly. When I take them off I can’t even see the nets of the pockets.

‘If two balls are close together, I can’t see if one goes past the other. On long shots I’m pretty much guessing, but I’m guessing alright at the minute so I don’t want to do anything about it yet.’

Williams’ eyesight will be put to the test again when he takes on world champion Kyren Wilson in the next round of the Players Championship.

The Warrior knocked in breaks of 87, 72, 61, 66 and 74 on his way to a 6-3 win over Mark Allen and is in confident mood having won three titles this season since his Crucible glory.

‘I’ve thrived from being World Champion and I’ve enjoyed all of this season. It has just given me so much confidence and it hasn’t been a burden on me,’ he said.

‘When you carry that confidence, you can transfer it onto the table and you can almost transfer it into your opponent’s minds. I feel like I’ve done that a lot this season. If you cower away in events against these top players then they will eat you alive. I’m pleased with how I managed to handle it.’

Williams is not sounding nearly as confident, telling SportsBoom: ‘I expected Ding to beat me, to be totally honest with you. And I expect Kyren to beat me if I’m totally honest.’

The 49-year-old will not only be trying to deal with the reigning world champion but also the curse of Ding Junhui.

In a remarkable run of results, every player who has beaten Ding in a tournament this season has lost in the next round.

Can the Welsh Potting Machine break the curse on the week of his 50th birthday? We will find out.