The 2025 Players Championship draw already had a high-quality feel to it, but a special quartet of quarter-final clashes is adding more intrigue to the event.
Three out of the four ties in the round of eight are already known, and all three will be battles between two proven world champions of the sport.
Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, and Shaun Murphy all won on day two of the competition to join Kyren Wilson and Mark Williams in the next round.
Trump compiled a brace of century breaks to see off the challenge of surprise Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan.
The world number one has taken his tally of tons from this season to 88, meaning he is constantly creeping closer to the century of centuries milestone and a £100,000 bonus.
Trump will encounter Murphy for a berth in the final four after the Magician held off Barry Hawkins in a close affair.
The Masters champion led 3-0 and 4-2 before parity was restored, but Murphy moved through the gears at the end by making breaks of 71 and 123 to clinch a 6-4 win.
Trump and Murphy have already met three times this season – including in the Shanghai Masters final – with the former emerging successfully on each occasion.
Selby and Robertson will renew their rivalry with one another, meanwhile, after recording respective defeats of Si Jiahui and Stuart Bingham.
The latter looked as though he might gain a modicum of revenge over Robertson following his humiliating 10-0 defeat to the Australian in last week’s World Grand Prix final.
Bingham won the first frame to stop his losing sequence of frames and even led 4-2, but Robertson reeled off the last four frames to advance instead.
Selby, who has oddly never even reached the final of a Players Series tournament, scored heavily and contributed two tons during his 6-3 victory over Si.
Wilson and Williams will kick start the quarter-final action in the 2025 Players Championship draw on Wednesday evening having safely progressed from Monday’s opening fixtures in Telford.
World champion Wilson ousted reigning Players Championship winner Mark Allen while Williams defeated Ding Junhui.
First on Wednesday afternoon, however, will be the remaining two clashes from the opening stage of the competition.
Recent World Open winner John Higgins will look to extend his resurgence in form when he faces Chris Wakelin.
Wakelin is the only player left who can still upset the order for the upcoming 12-strong Tour Championship in Manchester.
On the other table will be an exciting all-Chinese tie between Xiao Guodong – arguably the most improved cueist on the circuit during this campaign – and young talent Wu Yize.
Wu and Wakelin are both also chasing ranking points that will take them into the top 16 of the two-year rankings in time to seal an automatic ticket to the Crucible Theatre for this season’s World Championship.
2025 Players Championship draw
(Match times in UTC)
Last 16 (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-2 Lei Peifan
Barry Hawkins 4-6 Shaun Murphy
Xiao Guodong vs Wu Yize (Wed, 1pm)
John Higgins vs Chris Wakelin (Wed, 1pm)
Neil Robertson 6-4 Stuart Bingham
Mark Selby 6-3 Si Jiahui
Mark Williams 6-2 Ding Junhui
Kyren Wilson 6-3 Mark Allen
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Judd Trump vs Shaun Murphy (Thurs, 7pm)
Xiao/Wu vs Higgins/Wakelin (Fri, 1pm)
Neil Robertson vs Mark Selby (Thurs, 1pm)
Mark Williams vs Kyren Wilson (Wed, 7pm)
Click here to view the latest scores and results
(snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
Wilson 7-2 up on Williams in meetings longer than best of 7.
Is the snooker not on TNT,ì thought euros port as been canceled and TNT taken over.
ITV events are not shown on TNT Sports in the UK.