Phil Haigh
Published December 1, 2025 11:25am
Updated December 1, 2025 11:25am
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Mark Williams is the highest-ranked of the trio of Class of 92 legends (Picture: Getty Images)
Mark Williams feels he has edged ahead of his Class of 92 rivals in recent years and has some advice for Ronnie O’Sullivan on how to get back to winning tournaments.
Williams and John Higgins have already reached their 50th birthdays, while O’Sullivan will celebrate that milestone this week.
All three are still doing extremely well, with Williams, Higgins and O’Sullivan fourth, fifth and sixth in the world rankings respectively.
It is the Welshman who has won a tournament this season, triumphing at the Xi’an Grand Prix, while the Scot and the Englishman are yet to pick up a trophy.
It was not too long ago that Higgins was celebrating victories, as he won the World Open and Tour Championship earlier this year, but the Rocket is on something of a trophy drought.
O’Sullivan has not won a ranking title since the World Grand Prix in January 2024 and a tournament of any flavour since the World Masters of Snooker in March last year.
Williams thinks it is remarkable that the three legends are still competing at the top of the game at their age, but thinks he has gained an advantage over them by lowering his expectations.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is nearing two years without a ranking title (Picture: Getty Images)
The three-time world champion believes O’Sullivan and Higgins expect so much of themselves that they struggle to deal with poor shots, while he has accepted that mistakes are bound to happen more often as you get older.
On the longevity of the Class of 92, Williams told TNT Sports after a 6-4 win over Dave Gilbert at the UK Championship: ‘It’s unbelievable.
‘All I wanted to do at the start of the season, if I can nick a tournament I’ll be over the moon and I’ve done it pretty early on. Whatever happens from here on in I can’t grumble.
Williams beat Shaun Murphy to win the Xi’an title in October (Picture: Getty Images)
‘It is amazing how the three of us are still going. I’ve always been chasing their tails for the last 30-40 years, but I think the last five or six years maybe I’m a little bit better than the other two at the minute, or my results are, I think, showing it. That’s an achievement in itself.
‘I think the only difference is that I can take playing bad and missing any ball on the table, better than the other two, I think.
‘They’re so successful. If I miss a sitter I don’t really care, but especially Ronnie he’s so used to making frame-winning breaks. I think as soon as he gets used to missing balls he can’t believe he misses – because that’s what’s going to happen – then he’ll start winning tournaments again.’
John Higgins takes on Murphy in the last 16 in York this week (Picture: Getty Images)
O’Sullivan’s old pal Jimmy White feels his reduced playing schedule is costing him as he is less ‘match sharp’ than his rivals.
Two maximum breaks in the same game at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in August showed that the Rocket can still soar, but he is struggling to get off the ground regularly.
‘He proved in Saudi Arabia – where he produced two 147s – that his game is still intact,’ White told TNT.
‘He put in a lot of work in the summer but, for me, he hasn’t played in enough of the tournaments. I don’t think he is match sharp.
‘You look at the likes of Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Wu Yize, Judd Trump, these are all serious professionals. I am not saying that Ronnie is not a serious professional, and you can’t write him off, but he is not match sharp.’
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Williams and Higgins have already won their UK Championship first round matches over the weekend, with the Welshman downing Gilbert and the Scot beating Ben Woollaston.
It is Pang Junxu next for Williams, while Higgins has a blockbuster last 16 contest against Shaun Murphy.
O’Sullivan begins his campaign against Zhou Yuelong on Tuesday afternoon at the Barbican in York.
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