Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry was not impressed by Mark Williams’ performance in the opening round of the British Open, prompting a frank response from the Welshman
Mark Williams has branded Stephen Hendry “a tit” after being annoyed by the brutal criticism of his performance at the British Open.
Williams was comfortably beaten 4-1 in the first round in Cheltenham by Malaysia’s Rory Thoras on Monday. The 49-year-old Welshman was miles off his best and fell at the first hurdle against the world No.79 while trying to defend the title he won last year in style against Mark Selby.
The three-time world champion was playing with a new cue and appeared to be struggling with his judgement. His performance was savaged on commentary, with Alan McManus describing his performance as “poor as I’ve seen him play in a long, long time”.
Hendry was even more critical on ITV4, saying: “It was a very, very poor performance. He’s using a new cue. I hope he was paid nicely because it’s going to derail his season. It’s going to take him a bit of getting used to. It sounded horrific and his play was horrific. It was very, very bad.”
Hendry is one of the greatest players of all time, having bagged seven world titles during his storied career. But his opinion was clearly not appreciated by Williams, who took to social media to voice his displeasure.
Replying to the quotes on Twitter, Williams wrote: “Derail his season? What a tit, my season is already made.” Williams is currently ranked seventh in the world after narrowly losing to Judd Trump in the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters earlier this month.
The new tournament is the most lucrative match in snooker outside of the World Championship, with Trump taking home £500,000 for his win, which came on the black in a dramatic final frame.
World No.1 Trump clearly rates Williams, stating after the match: “I’m in shock. Mark was the much better player, I just found something at the end. I stopped breathing for the last five minutes of the frame but I managed to get over the line.”
It is not the first time that Williams has clashed with Hendry, who retired for a second time in June following a comeback. Williams branded the Scot “an idiot” on social media back in April 2022 after Hendry criticised him for practising with regular training partner Jackson Page ahead of a match against him at the World Championship.
Hendry advised Page to “stay away” from his close friend in the run-up to the last-16 match. Williams described that opinion as “nonsense” and proceed to beat the younger man 13-3. Page did at least get some sort of revenge, beating Williams 4-3 at the WST Classic in 2023.
