Mark Williams and Kyren Wilson launched the 2025 Players Championship with victories at the Telford International Centre on Monday.
Williams overcame Ding Junhui in a low-scoring affair with a 6-2 scoreline, while Wilson ousted reigning champion Mark Allen 6-3.
The latter compiled breaks of 87, 74, 72, 66, 61, and 53 to see off Allen’s challenge, with the Northern Irishman continuing to struggle for form.
Williams contrastingly could only muster a single half-century contribution – a run of 64 in the sixth frame – but still had more than enough to outlast Ding in a scrappy fixture.
The Welshman, who turns 50 on Friday, was the last winner of an event where ITV was the host broadcaster.
He triumphed at the Champion of Champions in November and was the winner too of last season’s Tour Championship that was also aired on ITV.
Wilson, meanwhile, is bidding to claim a fourth ranking title of what has been a prolific campaign for the world number two.
The reigning world champion has already lifted the Xi’an Grand Prix, Northern Ireland Open, and German Masters trophies during this term.
Williams and Wilson are the first two players through to the quarter-finals of this year’s Players Championship, with the remaining last-16 matches to come on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Judd Trump headlines day two with the top seed and world number one set to enter the fray against Lei Peifan.
Trump, a two-time former Players Championship winner and the only competitor to qualify for every edition of the tournament since its inception in 2017, is the favourite in the outright betting market with odds of about 5/2.
Check out the best bookies not on Gamstop and avail of sign-up bonuses if you think Trump will add a third Players Championship crown to his growing collection of trophies.
In the same session on Tuesday evening, Shaun Murphy will entertain Barry Hawkins in an intriguing battle between a couple of in-form players.
Before that, all eyes will be on the afternoon game between Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham.
The former thrashed Bingham 10-0 in last week’s World Grand Prix final, so it will be interesting to see what kind of outcome transpires on this occasion.
Si Jiahui challenges Mark Selby on the sister table, while the remaining two last-16 bouts will take place on Wednesday between John Higgins and Chris Wakelin, and Xiao Guodong and Wu Yize.
2025 Players Championship draw
Last 16 (bo11)
Judd Trump vs Lei Peifan (Tues, 7pm)
Barry Hawkins vs Shaun Murphy (Tues, 7pm)
Xiao Guodong vs Wu Yize (Wed, 1pm)
John Higgins vs Chris Wakelin (Wed, 1pm)
Neil Robertson vs Stuart Bingham (Tues, 1pm)
Mark Selby vs Si Jiahui (Tues, 1pm)
Mark Williams 6-2 Ding Junhui
Kyren Wilson 6-3 Mark Allen
Click here to view the latest scores and results
(snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
Well actually, my eyes (what’s left of them) will be on Mark Selby and Si Jiahui – a much more interesting matchup. Robertson-Bingham could be good, but only if it’s close.
As always, it’s a strange schedule, with no afternoon session yesterday and only one semi-final per day.
Ordinarily yes, Selby vs Si would be more interesting. But not really this time for me in the context of what just happened.
And yeah, the ITV schedule has always been a hard no from me. A nightmare considering my time zone.
I would think the UK tournaments generally would be tough for you, although the BBC scheduling what they perceive to be tastier matches in the afternoon would help somewhat.
Williams v Ding was incredibly low standard at times. The commentary of Michael McMullan and Joe Perry enlivened it.
I’ll be pleased to see the clocks change soon. No daylight savings in Korea so the time difference will be down to 8 hours. Believe it or not, that makes a pretty big difference.
Williams is struggling with his eyesight. Ding has been pretty disappointing again in the last few months.
Ironically, Ding is also struggling with his eyesight, but also due to the fact he misses so many events he’s hardly ever match-sharp.
Poor quality match between Williams and Ding obviously, but also unimpressive looking crowds for the start of the tournament. Hopefully both improve for the remainder of the tournament.
It was better tonight for Trump. The quarter-final lineup is going to be mouthwatering.
Ding has been struggling for several years now with power shots. I feel the window for him to become a world champion is narrowing considerably.
ITV started leaving Saturday afternoon blank to accommodate racing on ITV4. This reason is losing its relevance as the racing, like this Saturday, is being shown on ITV1. Since ITV started broadcasting racing in 2017, an increasing amount of it is being aired on the main channel.
The clocks going back is good timing for Sheffield!