Greatest of all-time lists are always up for debate and Mark Williams has had his say on where Judd Trump sits in his own personal rankings.
The pair meet in the Players Championship quarter-finals on Thursday night, the latest in a brilliant rivalry that has produced some epic matches.
Trump edging Williams 10-9 in the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters springs to mind, as do their two World Championship semi-finals, one won by the Englishman in 2022 and the other by the Welshman in ’25.
Williams has three world titles to his name compared to Trump’s one, and he feels that the Ace just needs to conquer the Crucible again to catch up with the top three or four players of all-time.
‘He’s got to be in the top four or five easily,’ Williams said of Trump’s place on the all-time list. ‘I think if anything’s missing, it’s another World [Championship]. I’ve always put Ronnie [O’Sullivan], [John] Higgins and [Stephen] Hendry there. I think if he wins one more World, I’d put him in front of Hendry, you know, with Ronnie and Higgins just behind.
‘But even if he don’t win the World [again], he’s still in the top four or five anyway. But I think for him to be up there with O’Sullivan and John and Stephen, he needs to win at least one more, and [Mark] Selby, you’ve got to win another World to just creep up past him. I think he’d be disappointed if he didn’t.’
Williams – who is leaving himself off the GOAT list – has Trump ahead of six-time world champ Steve Davis because of the standard of opposition the current world number one is facing.
‘I can’t rank him [Davis] in the top four or five. Just because of the people now, they’re doing it in the era where it’s the toughest by far,’ he said.
‘Steve Davis, brilliant player. Nothing but respect for him. But him at his peak, playing now with all these boys, he’s nowhere near winning six World Championships. He’d still win a couple, but it’s hard in this era to win six.’
The 50-year-old relishes his scraps with Trump, delighted that he is still able to compete with and beat the world number one who is 14 years his junior.
‘I think every time you play Judd, you know you have to play well,’ he said. ‘And sometimes I’ve played really well against him and lost.
‘Just to be playing Judd in the quarter-final of these big tournaments is a privilege for me. I didn’t think I’d still be doing it at 51 next month.
‘If he beats me, gives me a good hiding, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just nice to still be there, you know, fighting him with these youngsters. Keep on trucking!’
Their most recent meeting was not a classic, with Trump winning 4-0 at the Riyadh Season Championship as Williams struggled, but the world number is not expecting such an easy ride in Telford.
‘The last time I played him was the worst I’ve ever seen him play!’ Trump said. ‘Normally he’s very, very solid. He doesn’t miss much, doesn’t do a lot wrong.
‘He has very strange shot selection. You’re very on edge when you’re playing him. I think he has a very different game to Ronnie and John. You kind of know they’ve got that standard or you know what they’re going to do. With Mark it’s a little bit different. You don’t know what you’re going to get as much with him. That’s what puts you on edge a little bit.
‘If he was practising eight hours a day, I’d know I’d have to go in and be on it from the start. Sometimes that’s a lot easier for me to deal with.
I just try and go in with that mindset. He’s still an amazing player on his day.’
Williams looks back on their clash in Riyadh in November, saying conditions were such that he felt he had no chance of winning.
‘I can’t say too much to get a fine, but yeah, it was tough conditions. I think I’m all right to say that,’ he said.
‘Very tricky when the cue ball’s coming off twice and three times the speed of going on the cushion and it’s playing a little bit heavy. That’s my worst nightmare. I almost know I can’t win.
‘As soon as I go up there and the conditions are like, I can’t win. Sometimes it’s easier to shake his hand and say, yeah, well done, and just not even play!
‘But that’s just the way my game is. Judd, he can handle tough conditions better because he’s got more power and that’s what you need. I haven’t really got that much cue power like the big boys.’
Williams is still very much one of the big boys and he takes on Trump at 7pm on Thursday night for a place in the Players Championship semi-final.
