Snooker: Mark Williams in trouble for Crucible blast

Two-time former winner Mark Williams caused a stir on the eve of the Betfred.com World Championship by condemning the Crucible venue and saying he hoped the tournament would move to China.

The 37-year-old Welshman, champion of 2000 and 2003, slated the Sheffield theatre yesterday in a series of comments on Twitter. Williams said he was “in trouble” for his remarks, which began with him writing: “WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS just around the corner. shame its played in the crucible, shxt hole, hopefully it will be in china soon.”

He then responded to a comment from a follower who pointed out the history of the venue which has staged the tournament since 1977 and is contracted to do so until 2015.

Williams wrote: “no sheffield is a nice place, the crucible is a shxt hole. #hate it”

Knowing his comments could spark disciplinary procedures, he added: “its only my opinion about the crucible WSA [World Snooker] so dont send me any letters or fines. #lotsoflovewillo.”

Minutes later, he wrote: “wow im in trouble for my last tweet about the crucible. not sure if its cause i nearly swore, or said i hate playing there, or want the world champs to go to china.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Hendry never could understand how Jimmy White brushed off Crucible final defeats within minutes and he heads into his 27th Betfred.com World Championship stating: “I still hate losing.” He battled through qualifying last weekend, beating Chinese prospect Yu Delu to earn his place in the tournament, which starts today.

With seven world titles, Hendry is the ultimate class act from the Crucible era, yet at the age of 43 he is struggling to remain competitive.

“I still hate losing, and being at the stage of my career where I’m not really competing – I’m losing first and second rounds – is even worse,” he said.

White, too, continues to play, but the six-time runner-up failed to reach the Crucible, after losing in qualifying.

If Hendry shared White’s attitude to losing, the Scot would have found his recent poor form easier to accept. “Jimmy’s a unique personality. We used to see each other at the after-parties and you would think he’d not been in a World Championship final,” Hendry said. “He was soon back to normal. If I lose, I tend to think about it for a long time and get pretty down about it.”