Mark Williams has slammed “idiot” Stephen Hendry for his comments over the Welshman practising with protege Jackson Page ahead of their secound-round clash at the World Snooker Championship.
The 47-year-old, a three-time winner of the sport’s most coveted prize, will square off with the youngster in the last 16 on Thursday. The 20-year-old is just two years older than Williams' eldest son, Connor, and has a close relationship with his opponent.
The pair were seen practising together at the Crucible ahead of their encounter, something Hendry did not approve of - telling the youngster to “stay away” from his next opponent. This was brutally dismissed by Williams on Twitter, who wrote: “What an idiot."
Williams has previously described Page as "not just a friend, more like my fourth son", which Page admits makes him beam with pride. "I'm proud, definitely - they're nice words for Mark to say," he said.
"Apart from practising together obviously, we go for food, play golf, have a game of cards, bingo. We have a good laugh - it's been like that for years." In their only previous meeting at the 2020 Scottish Open, Williams defeated Page 4-1.
Two years on, the youngster has made significant progress and after a 10-7 win over world number nine Barry Hawkins in the first round of the ongoing world championship, he fancies his chances against Williams. "I'm feeling really confident," Page added.
"Hopefully I can carry that on. It's just going to be a great buzz. I'm going to enjoy it whatever happens." It will be an emotional match for both players, and Williams will treat Page just like every other opponent.
“Obviously, I’m going to try my best to beat him and I want to destroy him – there’s no question,’ said Williams after beating White. “I don’t like losing to anybody but, if I am going to lose to anybody and I had to pick, it would be him.
“I’m going try my best to win but if I lose, I will have no problem at all. If it means him getting in the top 64 by beating me, I’m half on his side anyway. We’ve got a few [people] up from the club. It’s going to be interesting to see which side of the balcony some of them are on.”
Despite the unusual challenge, Williams does not expect their relationship to change after they’ve clashed on the biggest stage. “It’s going to be tough because he’s not just a friend; he’s more like my fourth son really," he said. “He comes to the house; we play cards together with my kids, pizzas, golf, badminton – you name it, we do it together. Unless he blanks me for the next two days, I’m assuming we’ll be having something to eat together tonight.”
