On February 22, 2023, Beijing time, the Snooker Players Championship entered the second matchday, and the two post-80s world champions Mark Selby and Sean Murphy spoke directly in the first round, Mark Selby was still in a slump, losing 3-6 to Sean Murphy and suffering a round of travel. In another match played at the same time, Kyren Wilson eliminated Zhou Yuelong 6-2, and China's Zhou Yuelong also stopped in the first round.
Sean Murphy has returned to form this season, as evidenced by reaching the final at the Welsh Open. Unfortunately, Sean Murphy missed a good opportunity to break the championship drought and lost to Robert Milkins in the final. Losing that final also left Shaun Murphy in the Players Championship against Mark Selby, who was not in much competitive form, but was a four-time World Champion and had a lot of experience.
However, Selby's presence was indeed very sluggish, and he lost three consecutive innings as soon as he came up, and Sean Murphy shot a one-shot 72 and 75 to make a straight 3-0 dream start. Mark Selby pulled a set back before half-time and won a thrilling 68-65 victory, keeping a glimmer of hope alive. After halftime, Sean Murphy continued his strong run, winning two consecutive games to get the match point and take a 5-1 lead.
Mark Selby showed his tenacious side, especially the defense was very good, and then both games took the opportunity in the chaos to chase the score to 3-5, but unfortunately Selby made a mistake in the ninth game, Sean Murphy then stepped up, hit a single 43 and also made a mistake, Selby briefly started and gave up the opportunity again, Sean Murphy did not miss the opportunity, sealed the victory 6-3, and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. Next, Sean Murphy will face Ryan Day in the quarterfinals.
In another match played at the same time, Kyren Wilson played well, easily defeating Zhou Yuelong 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the game, Kyren Wilson shot a one-shot 76 from the start, and Zhou Yuelong was not to be outdone, shooting a one-shot 100 in the second inning. However, Zhou Yuelong lost four consecutive games after 1-1, and Kyren Wilson scored consecutive singles of 50, 100, 63, and 121 to win the match point directly 5-1.
Zhou shot a one-shot 70 in the seventh inning to save a match point, but he made a low-level error in the eighth inning, and Kyren Wilson sealed the victory with a single 51 to easily advance to the quarterfinals, and then faced the winner between Ding Junhui and Gary Wilson. So far, 4 spots have been identified in the quarterfinals, belonging to Joe O'Connor, Kyren Wilson, Sean Murphy, Ryan Day.
In addition, only two Chinese players qualified for this year's Players Championship, and in the case of Zhou Yuelong's round of swimming, the burden of impacting the championship once again fell on Ding Junhui's shoulders, for Ding Junhui, the next match with Gary Wilson is also a key battle for him to challenge the seeded place of the World Championship, hoping that he can unload the burden and win!