Mark Williams has spoken about his ‘Class of ’92’ tag alongside Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, and admitted that he doesn’t like being grouped with the other two snooker stars
Mark Williams admits that he’s not a fan of being lumped in with John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan under the ‘Class of ’92’ label, claiming that ‘The Rocket’ might be “sick” of the comparison. The Welsh snooker star recently beat Scottish rival Higgins in a nail-biting quarter-final at the World Snooker Championship on Wednesday.
The showdown was a Crucible classic, culminating in a tense deciding frame where Williams clinched victory with a 13-12 final scoreline. As he heads to the semi-finals, Williams will face either Lucas Brecel or Judd Trump later this week.
Meanwhile, O’Sullivan is gearing up to take on Si Jiahui in Wednesday evening’s session, hoping to join his rival in the semis.
In the wake of his quarter-final win, Williams opened up about being compared to O’Sullivan and Higgins, admitting that he’s not particularly fond of the Class of ’92 tagline – similar to that of Manchester United’s legendary youth team – that the snooker trio often get labelled with.
The moniker – which is also reminiscent of tennis’ Big Three featuring Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – groups the three snooker players together as the sport’s biggest names.
However, Williams isn’t too pleased with this trio, and believes O’Sullivan feels the same way. Speaking to SportsBoom, he expressed his belief that both Higgins and O’Sullivan are more skilled, even going so far as to hail the latter as the greatest in the game.
Discussing the ‘Class of ’92’ label, the 50-year-old said: “Yeah, I’ve never really liked it. I’ve always said that them two they’re the two best players in the world ever. Ronnie, by far the best, and John the second-best player ever for me, and I’ve always said that.
“I don’t really like being classed with them because I think they’re much higher than me.”
Between them, the trio boasts an astounding haul of 100 ranking titles, 39 Triple Crown titles and 14 world championships.
But it’s O’Sullivan who leads the pack, having clinched seven world championships, 41 ranking titles and 23 Triple Crown victories.
O’Sullivan isn’t just a prominent figure in their era but across the history of snooker, holding records for the most ranking titles, Masters and UK Championship wins, while tying with Stephen Hendry for the most world championships.
Williams also pondered whether O’Sullivan, who is lighting up the World Championship after some time away from snooker, might be tired of being lumped together with himself and Higgins.
The three-time world champion added: “I think Ronnie’s probably the one who should be upset with the class of 92 because he’s so far in front of me and John. He probably gets sick of being in the class of 92, because he’s in his own class.
“But, you know, people like mentioning the class of 92, and I can’t get away from it.”
