Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins urged to follow Mark Williams’ lead

If is is possible to replicate the mindset of Mark Williams, then his Class of 92 rivals Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins should do so, believes Joe Perry.

The three 50-year-old are still competing at the elite level in snooker, all riding high in the top 10 of the world rankings.

Williams is above his two old rivals at number four in the world and is the only one of the three to have won a tournament this season, becoming the oldest ever ranking event winner at the Xi’an Grand Prix.

The Welsh great was also in the World Championship final last year as he continues to defy any suggestion that he should be tailing off as he reaches his sixth decade.

Consistency is maybe where he has declined, and accepting that is perhaps the key to his sustained success.

Williams knows he will have a fair few bad days at the office now, but does not let that bother him, while his great rivals may be more unnerved by poor performances.

Perry, who also turned pro with the three legends in 1992, told Metro: ‘I think Williams, like he’s said a few times in his interviews and I’ve chatted to him off camera, he’s just dealing with it better.

‘He’s still absolutely brilliant. They all are. Williams, arguably, is as good as he’s ever been when he’s playing well. But I think he’s just accepted the fact that he’s going to have some really bad days and he’s going to put in some horror performances and he’s okay with that. He can deal with that.

‘Whereas I think John and Ronnie, their standards have been set so high, it must be horrible sometimes to not play anything like what they’re capable of.

‘I suppose they will eventually just accept it and just do what Mark’s doing, just go out there and see what happens. But it’s hard to have an opinion really because we don’t know what it’s like to be that good and that dominant and that successful, then to not be. It must be hard. It must be quite difficult.’

Higgins and O’Sullivan are far from struggling, with the Scot reaching the International Championship final this season and the Englishman getting to the showpiece at the Saudi Arabia Masters, making two 147s in the semi of that event.

Even when the Rocket has not been firing much, Perry expects there to be lift-off at any moment as the brilliance is still clearly there, even if it isn’t on display as often as it once was.

‘He still turns up to events and in the betting he’s favourite or second favourite to win tournaments,’ said Perry of O’Sullivan. ‘And his form leading up to them has shown nothing like that, but that’s just the level he’s played at over his career. He’s a sporting legend, isn’t he?

‘And he does still produce those moments. In Saudi he was incredible. Some of the stuff he played in Saudi was truly as good as he’s ever, ever been.

‘Then we don’t see much him for a few months and he throws in a couple of not so good performances and you think, “oh, is this the end?” Then he’s back again! He’s playing phenomenal!

‘I think we’ just got to enjoy all of them for as long as we can.’

How long we will be enjoying them for is anyone’s guess. They are already rewriting what to expect from a snooker career in terms of longevity at the top level.

Perry believes retirement will only become a possibility when they start to slide a long way down the rankings and the reality of playing qualifiers in empty rooms becomes more and more common.

‘They’re different to me, they’re the greatest players we’ve ever seen, but I think the true test for them will come if they do drop down into the 40s and the 50s and they stop appearing at every venue,’ said the Gentleman.

‘I think then they’ll have to ask themselves questions about how much they like want to carry on. Obviously they’re still so good that they’re only playing snooker in big, major events in front of big crowds. So it’s worth putting the hard work in for. But I think when that situation changes and you become just another snooker player, turning up at a qualifying venue, it’s very, very difficult then to stay motivated.

‘The thing is they’ve done all that already. They’ve done all that to get there. And because they’re so good they’ve stayed there. They’ve had their time slugging it out with everyone else, trying to climb the rankings.’

All three of the former world champions are in action at the Masters next week, with Mark Williams playing Mark Allen, John Higgins taking on Barry Hawkins and Ronnie O’Sullivan facing Neil Robertson at Alexandra Palace.

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