Mark Williams will never tire of winding up his good friend Stephen Hendry over the most famous and dramatic climax in Masters history.
It is the 25th anniversary of the iconic ‘re-spotted black’ final which saw the Welshman claim the prestigious invitation title in the most thrilling fashion imaginable, after the black ball had been fished out again with the scores level at 56-56 and nine frames apiece at the old Wembley Conference Centre.
And after what seemed an interminable exchange it was Scot Hendry that cracked, twitching a black to the centre pocket and allowing a disbelieving but delighted Williams to finish things off. It was a huge moment in the career of a then 22-year-old Williams against a devastated Hendry, who had dominated the decade.
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And ahead of another titanic Masters tussle against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals on Thursday, the 47-year-old Williams – who won it again 20 years ago – admits he has milked the moment to the max against his regular golf partner, now also a respected TV pundit.
Williams said: “I particularly like seeing that moment because I think Stephen Hendry is more known for that than winning the Masters six times – that is good enough for me!
“I give him a bit of stick about – only about once a day. I don’t retweet from World Snooker, but whenever they put that moment up on social media I’m all over it. Not just because I won it, but because I know it winds Hendry up.
“Some people say to me it is even the second most famous final in the history of snooker after the 1985 world final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis.
“I don’t know about that, but it must be up there. And not disrespecting the other final, but I would have thought the standard between me and Hendry was a lot better than the 1985 final.
“But not many finals and titles go down to a re-spotted black. So that and the Masters final when John Higgins cleared up to beat Ronnie on the black were two of the best in this tournament to watch.
“It was just such an occasion, and it was huge for me, because I was 22 or whatever and to win something like that against Stephen was brilliant. He was either still at his prime, or if not quite then not far off in that final.”
Williams and the Rocket are guaranteed an ovation that risks taking the roof off at the Palace on Thursday afternoon, but for all his many achievements – including three world championship wins at the Crucible and a total of 24 ranking titles, the world No8 has a truly dreadful record against O’Sullivan.
Most do, of course, but a head-to-head that shows just one win in a major tournament in 21 years, bar the odd Championship League success, suggests Williams will need something special to reach the semi-finals.
He added: “Ronnie…I have got to beat him once, haven’t I? Surely I’m due a win against him. But the atmosphere and the occasion will be special.
“I don’t think I could ever get a better reception from the crowd than I got at the Masters last year against John Higgins, that was unbelievable – but it could be as good against Ronnie, and it probably will be.
“Probably 90 per cent of the crowd will be on his side and I’ll have a few on my side, but that is always the case if you play Ronnie or Jimmy White in London. And I won’t worry about that.
“What an occasion – I am 48 in a couple of months, who would have thought I’d still be here at Alexandra Palace back in the quarters up against O’Sullivan in front of a full house.
“And even though most will want him to win and I understand that and it is no problem, I do think they appreciate all of us from the Class of 1992. And I can beat him. And a few times we have played he has beaten me in deciding frames, they could have gone either way.
“And if Ronnie is playing well and you take him 10-9 then you are doing something right. I can never remember him not playing well against me, ever. Sometimes he doesn’t look that interested out there – but never against me. I just know he will play well, and that I have too.
“It’s funny, Ronnie, he beats me a lot, I have some good wins against John Higgins, and Higgins has beaten Ronnie a few times.
“And though Ronnie has all the Masters titles, maybe I have got the best Masters moment of all time. He has a contender himself that he won’t like, losing on he black to John Higgins. He has won it seven times because he is that far in front of the other players.
“But it is special to have that moment against Hendry in the bank, of course it is – no one can ever take that re-spotted black moment away. It felt at the time that I was going on about 15-20 minutes until Hendry twitched that one in the middle. And it will be out there until I have finished playing.”
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