Mark Williams says he has not spoken to Darren Morgan since their feud began in 2018 and he never will again.
It has been no secret that the relationship between the two Welshman has been sour for some time and there was no sign of a reconciliation at the Welsh Open this week.
Williams won his opening round match and was in the BBC studio after the victory, where former professional Morgan was working as a pundit.
Morgan asked Williams a pretty innocuous question about how much he is enjoying the game as he approaches his 50th birthday and the response created an awkward atmosphere.
‘No comment,’ said Williams, with Ken Doherty’s forced laugh filling a slightly tense silence.
Asked about the frosty atmosphere in the studio in a post-match press conference, Williams said: ‘Iced, I’d say, more than frosty.’
Explaining the beginnings of the feud, Williams said: ‘It came about in the Welsh a few years ago, I didn’t even know there was any problem and all of a sudden it was in the paper, him calling me a cyber-bully or something like that. I’ve never talked to him since and never will.’
Williams says the pair were never great pals, but they were close enough for him to attend Morgan’s stag do and wedding, so certainly more than acquaintences.
‘We was never really close friends but we got on okay,’ said Williams. ‘I went to his wedding and his stag trip and stuff. But when he said that and put that in the papers, for no reason really, that’s it for me, there’s no coming back from that.’
The beef began when Morgan played in a wildcard round for the 2018 Welsh Open, which Williams felt his practice partner, then-teenager Jackson Page should have been playing in instead.
Williams let his feelings about the Morgan vs Rhydian Richards wildcard match be known on social media, including a tweet which read: Morgan v Richards in the Welsh, tha should bring the crowds in 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀,’
Morgan was not impressed, saying: ‘You can’t fault Mark as a player, but he’s a total joke. We’ve all blocked him on social media.’
He told BBC Sport Wales: ‘I know he’s fighting Jackson’s corner but he’s a total joke and it’s quite disappointing to us.
‘He’s saying things, trying to get me chucked out of the event saying Jackson should be in it. At the end of the day, I won a tournament and I’m ranked number one in the men’s [Welsh] rankings. It isn’t my fault.
‘He thinks it’s a bit of banter but there’s consequences to everything people do and say… but where he thinks it’s banter, to a lot of people it’s cyber bullying… he is abusing his position.
‘He’s a bully. He’s a keyboard warrior… but he gets away with it.’
Williams posted the BBC news article including those quotes on his Twitter page and when someone asked him who Morgan is, he replied: ‘I think he was tha fella who used to impersonate a snooker player about 30 years ago.’
The spat continued later in 2018 as Morgan and Page qualified for the singles final of the Rhymey Valley Snooker League, to be played at Williams’ club.
The match was due to be played on Page’s regular practice table and Morgan refused, saying he would play on any other table than the one his opponent is so used to.
Morgan’s request was denied, he forfeited the match and was then banned for 12 months from the league.
He felt Williams was directly involved in the unfortunate turn of events, although Rhymney Valley Snooker League said otherwise.
‘He can deny it all he wants and say what he wants,’ said Morgan. ‘I took a lot of flack at the Welsh Open when I called him a keyboard warrior and a cyber bully, but for whatever reason he has against me, he can’t let up.
‘When he sticks something out there he has a lot of followers and he is very successful, doing unbelievable at the minute, then everyone gets on the bandwagon at my expense and he sits back and has a good laugh about it.
‘I’m 100 per cent that if he did not get involved the final would have been played on another table in the club.
‘I’m sure Jackson Page wanted to play the final and I don’t think he would have been too bothered where it was played.’
Williams is back in action at the Welsh Open on Wednesday against Stephen Maguire in the second round.
The beef with Morgan is set to rumble on, potentially for all eternity.
