Mark Williams believes Ronnie O'Sullivan owes him an "adult affection" because his victory at the British Open will ensure the Rockets qualify for this season's "Championship-in-a-Crown" invitational tournament.
文/Phil Haigh，《Metro》
On Sunday, August 22, Williams defeated Gary Wilson 6:4 in the final of the British Open to win the British Open, and williams also gave his old rival O'Sullivan a ticket to the "crown in the crown".
O'Sullivan reached five ranking finals last season without success, and so far he has not been able to reach the championship as the tournament champion.
However, as a player has won multiple titles in the past year, places in the tournament are open to the highest-ranked players who have not qualified for the tournament.
With the Rockets ranked third in the world and Williams' victory disqualifying Gary Wilson, it looks like O'Sullivan will continue to compete in the championship with the world rankings, and O'Sullivan should thank his welsh old buddy.
After winning the British Open, Williams spoke of his, O'Sullivan and John Higgins' extraordinary achievements in standing proudly at the top of snooker and continuing their illustrious careers nearly 30 years after becoming pros.
Williams said: "Myself, John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan turned pro together many years ago and we still linger on the tour like 'ghosts'. ”
"My rankings have fallen a few times, but I've hit it back and we ('seven-five-three jie') seem to be holding out a lot longer than people expect. ”
"I've always believed that the two of them (Higgins and O'Sullivan) are definitely going to take more titles, but I won another one here today and one last season – so who knows, maybe I can take a few more?"
"And after I won the championship, I also helped Ronnie (O'Sullivan) qualify for the championship, and he owes me a 'big man'."
Williams' total number of ranking titles increased to 24 after the tournament, allowing him to consolidate his fifth-highest all-time ranking titles, behind O'Sullivan (37), Stephen Hendry (36), Higgins (31) and Steve Davis (28).
Williams believes that players and older players of his time were limited by the handful of tournaments at the time during the golden years of their careers, and the number of titles may not have been as prominent. Judd Trump is in the golden age of snooker development, and there will be a great chance of surpassing them in the number of champions in the future.
"I do think that if we had had the number of tournaments we have since 1992, by now Ronnie would have 100 titles, Higgins would have 80, maybe I would have 40."
"Judd (Trump) has won 11 titles in two years. And we had a few seasons at the time, and there were only 12 games in total in two years'.
Both the '92nd' and Trump had the opportunity to contribute to their ranking title at the Northern Ireland Open in October.
The winners of the Northern Ireland Open and subsequentLy the English Open are still eligible for the November Title, but even if two new champions appear in these competitions, O'Sullivan can still get the last ticket to the Crown with the rankings.