Mark Williams

Mark Williams: Won last year's UK Championship

Date of birth: 21/3/75
World ranking: 1
Career earnings: £1,622,003

The current world number one became the first left-hander to pick up the coveted Embassy World title last year when he beat fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens, 18-16, in a tense battle.

The previous year Williams also picked up the Liverpool Victoria UK Championship and the Regal Welsh Open on his home turf to place him at the top of the snooker tree.

Still only 25, Williams is known around the snooker circuit as "Sprog" and became only the fourth player in history to win three ranking titles in one season when he scooped the Irish Open, Welsh Open and Thailand Masters in 1998-99.

This season, the Welsh wizard leads the world rankings by 10,000 points.

The Welshman, already dubbed the new Steve Davis, is regarded by many as the best potter in the contemporary game and looks set to dominate major tournaments over the next couple of years.

Born just a stones throw from the famous Gwent mines, Williams was a promising amateur boxer before opting for a career on the green baize.

A good performance at the Benson and Hedges Masters will help cement his hold on the top spot.