‘Cracking atmosphere!’ – Mark Williams vaults wall during walk-on for semi-final at European Masters

Mark Williams is one of the quickest players on the snooker tour, and he took a shortcut during his walk-on ahead of his match with Barry Hawkins. His average shot time of 18.78 thus far in the 2022/23 season is sixth quickest. Those ahead of him? Ronnie O'Sullivan, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Zhao Xintong, Hossein Vafaei and Hammad Miah.

Ad The Welsh Potting Machine seemed in a rush on Friday as he beat Zhou Yuelong and Jamie Jones 5-0 and 5-1 in the third round and the quarter-final respectively to set up a semi-final showdown on Saturday against Barry Hawkins. European MastersHawkins blitzes Williams to secure European Masters final against WilsonAN HOUR AGO And the 47-year-old made a very Mark Williams entrance to that last-four encounter. The 2018 world champion elected not to do the full walk-on, and instead hopped the wall as Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’ bellowed out in the background.

The scene prompted Phil Studd on commentary to note: “Cracking atmosphere here at the Stadthalle,” began Studd. “Mark Williams making quite the entrance there,” he chuckled. Studd then turned to the potential of the match, adding: “He has been playing some terrific stuff, as has Hawkins” It was in fact Hawkins who would emerge victorious, overpowering Williams 6-2 to set up a final showdown with Kyren Wilson who had beaten Ali Carter 6-5 earlier in the day.

The Hawk has been in ferocious form this week, beating Judd Trump in the quarter-final and he produced what Alan McManus called the shot of the tournament in frame three. Hawkins will face Wilson in a best-of-17 encounter at the Stadthalle Fürth on Sunday. — — — Stream the European Masters and more top snooker action live on Eurosport and discovery+ European MastersWilson wins nervy decider