Mark Williams was hilariously told to “sit down” by Stephen Maguire during the pair’s Welsh Open clash.
With Glasgow man Maguire holding a 3-2 lead in the best of seven meeting, Williams was forced into a hit and hope from behind the yellow – and ended up launching the cue ball flying off the table. The three-time world champion joked: “It’s out on the promenade”, with the crowd before the referee returned to restart play. But with both Maguire and Williams standing together at the table, the Scot quipped “just sit down” and pointed Williams in the direction of his chair.
When Williams returned to the table he showed all his quality however, fluking a red to a rapturous applause from his home crowd. It proved immaterial in the long run, as Maguire went on to win 4-2 and set up a clash with Sanderson Lam. But speaking afterwards, the Welsh Potting Machine insisted he didn’t care about the defeat because he’s finally enjoying his snooker again – after a last-minute decision to compete in Wales.
Williams said: “I enjoyed it. I’m happy in one respect because the last few months I haven’t been enjoying playing at all at any venues, and didn’t want to go to any. I only decided to come to this one on Sunday morning and I’m so glad I did because, even though it’s the worst I can play, I enjoyed it.
“I enjoyed the first match. I hadn’t been enjoying it for a few months now, but hopefully with another couple of weeks off I can come back and, as long I keep enjoying it like that, the result is irrelevant. I enjoyed every part of it. My performance wasn’t very good, but I wasn’t coming here until Sunday morning and I’m so glad I did because it’s the most I’ve enjoyed playing in a venue for quite a few months now.”