Naked as the day he was born, only with a few more tattoos.
15 years after winning his second snooker world championship, Mark Williams added a third by defeating fellow veteran John Higgins at The Crucible.
The Welshman raced into a 14-7 lead before he was pegged back to 15-15. It looked as though Williams had wilted and many snooker fans thought it may be because of his vow to show up to the post-final press conference stark naked if he won.
Williams dug deep, however, and won three of the next four frames to win 18-16 and claim a cheque of £425,000 in the process. “It’s unbelievable,” he told the BBC.
“12 months ago I wasn’t even here. I watched it in a caravan. I was seriously thinking of giving up, but my wife Joanne said I can’t sleep in the house 24 hours a day.”
And, true to his word, Williams conducted his entire press conference in the buff. He strode into a cramped conference room wearing just a towel before taking his seat and unfurling that.
Mark Williams said he would do his press conference naked if he won the World Snooker Championship…
He's a man of his word! pic.twitter.com/6zYZL9ksr6
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 8, 2018
Williams braved the chilly conditions in the room but remarked, “Cold in here, innit?”
He then told reporters that there would be naked cartwheels if he managed to defend his world title in 2019.
He really is naked. “Cold in here innit” world snooker champion Mark Williams fulfils his promise. pic.twitter.com/LdfDri3rf0
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) May 7, 2018
