TOP players are ganging up to knock snooker's star man Mark Williams off his perch when he comes to York later this month to defend the UK title.

Williams, winner of the last four televised tournaments, has been constantly reminding his main rivals how good he is and they've had enough of it.

"He is getting too big for his boots. We want to make him more humble," six times former world and four times UK champion Steve Davis revealed when he came to the city yesterday to promote the Travis Perkins UK Championship.

"He's been texting me and other players with the message 'What a great blue' and we're fed up with it, so we're ganging together to knock him off his perch," Davis explained, adding that the 28-year-old Welsh wizard cueman's close friend Stephen Hendry is among those who have been getting the gibe.

The blue refers to the incredible long pot he sank in the 14th frame to seal a 9-5 victory over John Higgins in the LG Cup final at Preston last month.

That triumph gave the world number one four major trophies in a row, following his UK final victory last December, then the Masters title and in May the world crown.

And Davis, who is back in the world's top 16 after an absence of some years, has his own personal reason for wanting to take Williams down a peg or two.

After his LG Trophy success Williams joked: "That's the best I've ever done in the first tournament of the season. I usually lose to an old man like Steve Davis."

The 'Nugget', who at 47 is the oldest player in the top-flight, didn't arrive in York until 3am yesterday after driving up from Wales, where he had been playing an exhibition match.

Davis made a century break in another exhibition match he played last week at Wellingborough against former world champion Peter Ebdon - who then proceeded to make back-to-back 147 maximum breaks in the next two frames.

"That's unique in my experience," said Davis. "I've been on the circuit for 25 years and I don't recall two maximums being made in successive frames."

The UK Championship, to be played for the third year in succession at York Barbican Centre, starts on Tuesday, November 18, with the final on Sunday, November 30. The world's top 32 players will be in action, plus 16 qualifiers.

The UK is the second most important event, after the world championship, on snooker's calendar and since the tournament first came to York in 2001 all the players have raved about how much they enjoy the venue and the city.

"It makes a big difference to the players to be in a city like York which they don't usually visit where there are fascinating places to see and lots of cafs and restaurants when they're not playing snooker," said Davis.

Williams starts the defence of his UK title at noon on Saturday, November 22, the first day of the BBC televised rounds, when he will play the winner of the first round clash between 20-year-old world number 33 Mark Selby and qualifier Fergal O'Brien, from Dublin. The second session of Williams' opening match will be at 7pm on November 22.

Davis has his first match on Thursday, November 20, against Allister Carter or Icelander Bjorn Haneveer, one of the 16 qualifiers.

All tickets for the final sold out within four hours of them going on sale, but there are still tickets available for all other matches.

Ticket holders should note that the starting time of the afternoon session of the semi-final on Saturday, November 29 will now be at 2pm instead of 1pm.

The Evening Press will be publishing a free pull-out preview of the championship on Monday, November 17.

Updated: 10:27 Saturday, November 01, 2003