Mark Williams has opened up about having to use oxygen while competing in Tibet last month. The three-time world champion took part in the 2025 Tianren Cup Lhasa Winter Plateau Snooker Challenge, and was joined in the exhibition event by the likes of Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, and Xiao Guodong.
The tournament was held at an altitude of 11,975 feet above sea level, conditions which make altitude sickness common.
Williams, 49, prompted concern among fans when he posted a photo on social media where he was connected to an oxygen tank and wearing nasal tubes.
On X, he captioned the image with: “Oxygen needed at the interval, just in case for the frame.” He added he felt like he was “going to fall over in the first frame.”
He later reassured fans that he was only taking precautionary measures, and has since returned to the UK for the Masters. But ahead of his first-round clash with Ding, he spoke out on his ordeal in the Far East.
“Yeah, it was different,” he told the BBC. “I put in all the tweaks in Tibet but you need oxygen, not just me but everybody there. Ding, Trump, Guodong they all needed it otherwise you’re gonna pass out on the floor and you might not wake up, I don’t know.
“I didn’t realise really just how dangerous it can be, because you need it. When you are playing, on the side you have got three oxygen tanks if you need to breathe. You are walking around the table at such a slow pace because otherwise, you are just going to pass out.”
It was Ding who took the exhibition win, beating Williams in a dramatic final frame. And history repeated itself when the pair met at Ally Pally on Monday, with an epic contest also needing a decider with the score locked at 5-5.
Again, it was the Chinese star who prevailed with a clinical break of 90. It means the wait for a third Masters title goes on for Williams, who last won the title back in 2003.
Williams, one of the most popular players in the sport, has continued to defy his age and remain in the world’s top 16. And last year, he banished any suggestions he was thinking of retirement, saying: “I just don’t think I can stay in the house, and do nothing all day.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to retire now. Even how bad I get. I don’t think if I drop off the tour, I’ll ever try to get back on. But if there is still a seniors tour going, I’ll play that as well.”