By Phil Harlow
BBC Sport at The Crucible |
 Williams may have lost some motivation after becoming a father |
New father Mark Williams will get plenty of time to get acquainted with the joys of fatherhood after his surprise second-round defeat to Joe Perry.
Williams will travel back to Wales to be reunited with fianc�e Jo and their week-old baby Connor after falling to a 13-11 loss that saw him relinquish his world title.
But is this is just a minor blip for the world number one, or the start of a downward spiral that has afflicted other new sporting parents in the past?
Sportsmen and women tend to reach the top after years of self-obsessed dedication, countless hours of training and, to a certain extent, the exclusion of a normal life.
But babies tend to complicate matters, turning the most hard-nosed of competitors into nappy-changing, vomit-clearing, sleep-deprived, gooey-eyed softies.
That Williams was distracted was clear even after his less than convincing first-round win over Dominic Dale.
"I would have been disappointed to lose but I'd have got over it very quickly because we've got a bouncing baby boy and I'm so happy with everything off the table," said Williams.
"I didn't feel any nerves at all and I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or whether I am too relaxed."
Snooker is one of the most selfish of sports. It is a fiercely competitive environment with every pound earned and ranking point gained coming at the expense of one of your fellow pros.
 Stevens went five months without a win after the birth of his son |
Without a finely-tuned competitive instinct and a huge amount of time on the practice table, narrow wins suddenly turn into narrow defeats.
But while one loss does not signal the end of Williams' reign at the top of the snooker world, he will be hoping he does not follow the example of other sporting parents.
Fellow potter Matthew Stevens won the UK Championship last November then went five months without a win after the birth of his son Freddie.
Stevens admitted that perhaps he had not practised with as much diligence as before.
"There are times when snooker has to come second," said Stevens.
Between 1996 and 2000, golfer Lee Westwood never finished out of the top six in the European Tour's Order of Merit.
But coinciding with the birth of his son Samuel in 2001, Westwood plummeted to 52nd and sunk as low as 75th before resurrecting his career in 2003.
Sportswomen have it tougher, and athletes such as Marion Jones and Denise Lewis have both taken time out from their careers to have children, having to cope with both the physical trauma of childbirth and the loss of training time.
But BBC Sport commentator Steve Cram believes the impact largely depends on the individual.
"It really depends on your personality and how much you want to be involved in the day-to-day upbringing of your child," said Cram.
"Becoming a parent stops you being so insular. The sport and your own fitness and health become all important to you, and you can start obsessing about minor little twinges. As a parent, you can't to do that."
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
