The 2026 Players Championship draw has already been whittled down from 16 to eight players at the Telford International Centre.
Three match wins are still required before one of the remaining contenders can get his hands on the trophy this year.
There is a £150,000 top prize up for grabs in what is the 14th ranking tournament of the ongoing 2025/26 campaign.
Let’s take a brief look at all four quarter-final ties to come on Thursday and Friday.
John Higgins vs Chris Wakelin
John Higgins wasn’t going to qualify for the Players Championship but got in through the back door after Ronnie O’Sullivan opted not to enter.
Higgins certainly made the most of his opportunity in the first round, thrashing top seed Neil Robertson 6-1 with breaks of 133, 84, and 70.
Next up for the Scot, who was on commentary and punditry duty for new host broadcaster 5 on Wednesday, is Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin.
The latter produced a strong performance that included a brace of tons to beat Xiao Guodong 6-2 in the opening round.
Higgins, who is the only player left in the draw who hasn’t won a ranking title this season, and Wakelin last clashed in this same tournament a year ago with the former world champion emerging as a 6-5 winner.
Indeed, their last two meetings have ended with the same scoreline, with Higgins boasting a superior 5-2 head-to-head record overall.
When is it? Thursday, 13:00 GMT
Judd Trump vs Mark Williams
Judd Trump and Mark Williams set up a showdown against one another after recording respective heavy defeats of Zhou Yuelong and Barry Hawkins in the last 16.
Trump and Williams have been no strangers to each other at big tournaments in recent years, crossing paths at numerous times with plenty on the line.
Last season, they battled on four occasions and shared two victories apiece, with Williams winning an excellent semi-final encounter at the World Championship in Sheffield.
Trump, who won the German Masters at the start of February to end a 14-month title drought, will be the favourite here, but it would be foolish to write off the Welshman completely.
Their overall head-to-head from matches in all competitions reads 24-12 in Trump’s favour.
When is it? Thursday, 19:00 GMT
Shaun Murphy vs Zhao Xintong
There was only one match in the first round that needed all 11 frames to determine the outcome, and that saw Zhao Xintong storm back from 5-2 behind to eliminate Elliot Slessor.
The reigning world champion wasn’t at his best but never looked rattled either, and he managed to fight back to survive for another day.
Up next for the 28 year-old from China will be Shaun Murphy after the Magician enjoyed a much easier time of it during his 6-1 rout of Zhang Anda.
Murphy and Zhao have both been winners of ranking events this term already, capturing the British Open and the World Grand Prix respectively.
Zhao also beat Murphy en route to winning the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship invitational in November.
Interestingly, though, it’s the 2005 world champion who boasts the better head-to-head stats – winning six out of their eight total ties against one another.
When is it? Friday, 13:00 GMT
Mark Allen vs Mark Selby
The final quarter-final match in the 2026 Players Championship draw will be an all-Mark duel between Allen and Selby.
Both players recorded 6-3 victories to get through their initial hurdles, Allen ousting Wu Yize and Selby having too much for Jack Lisowski.
With the way things are going, Selby is one of the front runners for player of the season having lifted three trophies aloft over the course of the last few months.
Allen’s form has been in and out, with consistency in the Home Nations events tempered by early exits at a lot of the other tournaments on the calendar.
The Northern Irishman will be the underdog against Selby, but he intriguingly enjoys a 15-13 record from their prior games in all competitions.
That includes victories in four out of the last five times they have met.
When is it? Friday, 19:00 GMT
Featured photo credit: WST
Selby has never reached the final of this event.
John Higgins is the only player left that can maintain the streak of having a different winner of every ranking event this term.