For Walton, who has reached sixth in the highest career ranking, there is still a lot of room for improvement at this stage.
The first round of this year's Players Championship is Wharton's first return to the Players Championship in six years since 2016. As his back injury gradually improves, Walton's record has steadily improved, and he has reached two semi-finals at the Northern Ireland Open and the German Masters this season.
文/Phil Haigh，《Metro》
Playing Allen in the first round of the Players Tournament was obviously not a good signing, but Walton did not face Allen without a chance, but both sides had their own wins and losses. Wharton defeated Allen at the 2014 International Championship, and Allen achieved revenge on Wharton in the 2016 Players Grand Prix final.
But that victory eight years ago still gave Walton so much confidence, just as he defeated O'Sullivan in the Shanghai Masters final and Bingham in the Wuxi Classic.
Speaking about Mark Allen, Wharton said: "We seem to have played a lot of big games. When we were young, we played in the World Championship qualifiers, the British Championship semi-finals and several finals. He beat me in the Players Grand Prix final and I beat him in China, so it looks like we've had a lot of big moments together. ”
"In the final where I beat him, I was calm throughout the game and started to work late in the game. Mark (Allen) was a top player, so that win was really valuable. I've beaten the top players in all the finals I've been involved in, and that gives you the conviction that you know you can do it. ”
The two have met in an important match this season, with Allen beating Walton in the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open, but Walton is still happy to be playing again against a player he loves so much.
"I love playing against him (Mark Allen), he's a very creative player and I love watching him score goals. When I played against him, I also seemed to play well, so hopefully this is a wonderful game that we have dedicated together. ”
"We recently played a semi-final in Northern Ireland and the scores started close and then he started taking the lead and pulled away from me. His performance deserves a win, but I'm still looking forward to playing with Mark. ”
"I don't judge the difficulty of signing a table because of who the opponent is, I just simply play. I do like to play against certain players because of my personality, and Mark is one of them. There was no tit-for-tat or hostility in our game, we just respected each other, played well and tried to win the game, and finally shook hands and made peace, everything was fine. ”
Wharton is happy to play well again after a long period of difficult times. For Walton, who has reached sixth in the highest career ranking, there is still a lot of room for improvement at this stage of ranking eighteenth.
Wharton said: "The season has been good so far, you always think you can do a little better and the game is going to go as well as I want. ”
"You really don't want to say you always play well, but I do practice hard to make myself more glamorous when I play. I feel like I need to get confidence from the race, from the wins, and I'm gradually picking up that confidence. I feel like I'm climbing up, which is a good trend. ”
Coincidentally, Walton's nickname changed with his recovery. This season's Walton has finally found a nickname he likes. Formerly known as "Marathonman" and "Walnut", Walton's new nickname "Gladiator" at the German Masters made him feel quite fond of it.
"I really don't have a good nickname for an official one. But I would like to say that it was quite interesting that the German emcee called me a 'gladiator'. ”
"He was talking about 'Gladiator Berlin', but it seemed a bit casual, but he stuck to the title anyway. I have no opinion on gladiators. He did do some research, and I'm from Chester (an ancient city with Roman ruins in The UK) and he makes a lot of sense. ”