WORLD SNOOKER PLAYER PROFILES

Williams - two-time world champion. (2) Mark Williams World Ranking: 2 Provisional Ranking: 9 Date Of Birth: 21/03/75 World Championship best: Winner - 2000, 2003 In 2004 Williams arrived in Sheffield as reigning World Champion and world number one but after a difficult season he returns to the Crucible clinging to a provisional ranking of nine. Following a second-round exit to Joe Perry in last year's event the Welshman continued, in the first half of the season, to tumble out at the early stages of ranking events. Encouragingly for the 30-year-old, better performances in the Riley Clubs Masters, Citywest Irish Masters and most recently the China Open hint at a timely return to form. In the aftermath of both of his World Championship triumphs Williams has taken some time to get back on track and for that reason it seems as though this year's tournament has come too soon for the Welshman. Of course it is foolish to write off a double World Champion and if the left-hander finds the rhythm that earned him those two titles then his first-round match with Robert Milkins could be the beginning of a dangerous run. The left-hander, who was awarded an MBE in June 2004, still holds the astonishing record of going 48 ranking events without losing a first-round match, a run which Fergal O'Brien finally ended in 2003. This sort of statistic is why Williams is one of the top players in the world and, regardless of form, he should at least get past the early stages.