Mark Williams blames veggie diet for gout that forced him to wear a SLIPPER at Northern Ireland Open

ByMarcus Foley

Updated 14/10/2021 at 18:13 GMT

Williams believes that a switch to vegetarianism has caused him to suffer from gout. The three-time world champion says that he had to wear a slipper on his left foot at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast after a bout of gout made it too painful to put on shoes. Stream the Northern Ireland Open live and on demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.com.

Mark Williams had to don a slipper at the Northern Ireland Open after he claimed a dietary switch to vegetarianism saw him suffer with gout.

The three-time world champion bowed out at the last-16 stage following a 4-3 defeat to fellow ‘Class of ‘92’ member John Higgins.

However, ahead of that match Williams revealed that a bout of gout had left him unable to put a shoe on his left foot. The result? The 46-year-old had to wear a slipper during his matches, alongside a more conventional smart shoe, of course...

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Williams, renowned for his love of fast food, said that a switch to vegetarianism may have prompted the gout.

“A couple of weeks before it happened, for no reason I stopped eating meat and went on a vegetarian diet for a couple of weeks – and then I got gout!

So sod it, I’m going to eat as much meat, chicken and bacon as I want now. I’m back on the kebabs.

“I’m feeling much better now. I can almost walk like normal. I’m on these tablets for it now.

“I have a slipper on my left foot. I cannot get a shoe on it. It’s too painful. I brought it over with me to Northern Ireland.”

Williams had led Higgins 3-0 but the ‘Wizard of Wishaw’ fought back to set up a quarter-final showdown with either Dave Gilbert or Mark Selby.

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Stream the Northern Ireland Open live and on demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.com.

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