Richard Mann has profiled the 16 contenders for this year's Players Championship which takes place in Wolverhampton from Monday and is televised live on ITV4.
Players Championship profiles
- Seeding in brackets
Xhao Xintong (1)
Very much snooker’s man of the moment on the back of brilliant victories at the UK Championship and recent German Masters. Zhao’s 9-0 whitewash of compatriot Yan Bingtao in the Berlin final was an extraordinary performance and having propelled himself to the top of the 1 Year Ranking List, he has to rate a leading contender again in Wolverhampton. Zhao will be making his Players Championship debut when he takes on Barry Hawkins in round one and can't meet O'Sullivan, Robertson, Trump or Higgins until the final.
Luca Brecel (2)
Following a frustrating time of things, Brecel is beginning to finally deliver on his rich talent and considerable promise. Only Zhao was able to stop him at the UK Championship, before he went one better when trouncing John Higgins in the final of the Scottish Open. His subsequent absence from the Masters drew some controversy, but his place in the Players Championship was never in doubt and he could have fared worse with the first-round draw at least, Jimmy Robertson one of the lesser lights in a red-hot field.
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
As ever, O’Sullivan will be talk of the town ahead of this year’s Players Championship having drawn arch rival Judd Trump in the first round. The 2018 and 2019 champion is likely to start as underdog for that clash, given Trump has generally enjoyed the better of their recent meetings, but O’Sullivan won the World Grand Prix – his first title since the 2020 World Championship – just before Christmas to remind everyone that he remains one of the biggest hitters in the sport.
Mark Williams (4)
Another from the famed class of 92’ who shows so signs of slowing down. Williams kicked off the season by winning the British Open and looked in typically silky touch on the way to final of the Shoot Out. His agonising semi-final defeat to Neil Robertson at the Masters will live long in the memory of those who watched that fabulous match, but Williams isn’t the type to dwell on past losses and comes into this event with his game in very good order.
Mark Allen (5)
Following some well-documented troubles off the table, Allen has shown signs in recent weeks that he might have turned a corner in his life, with his performances on the table encouraging. On another day, the Northern Irishman would have got the better of Judd Trump at the Masters, and he built on that with a run to the last eight of the Shoot Out and a semi-final finish at the German Masters. Again, Allen might have been left frustrated by his near-miss in Berlin, but the 2016 champion is playing well again and it shouldn't be long before he adds to the Northern Ireland Open title he claimed earlier in the campaign.
Neil Robertson (6)
Robertson has yet to taste success in this event, despite reaching the final on three occasions, but he displayed every side of his game when running out a worthy winner of the Masters last month, registering his sixth Triple Crown victory in the process, and an early exit at the recent German Masters will at least ensure he arrives in Wolverhampton relatively fresh. A first-round tie against Kyren Wilson promises a stern test and things don't get easier with Trump or O'Sullivan next, but Robertson is in the midst of another excellent season and will have high hopes of enjoying a deep run once more.
John Higgins (7)
One the giants of the game, Higgins is still going strong at 46 years of age and has reached four finals already this term. That the Scot was beaten in all four of them will lead some to question his killer instinct as he plays out the twilight of what has been a glittering career, but he was unstoppable when steamrollering all comers – O’Sullivan included – on the way to winning this tournament 12 months ago and it’s hard to knock his general level of form at present. Expect him to have too much for Shoot Out winner Hossein Vafaei first up, though things will get much tougher thereafter, with the Scot housed in a star-studded bottom half of the draw.
David Gilbert (8)
A bright start to the season saw Gilbert claim his first ranking title, the Championship League, in August and he has reached three quarter-finals since. His run to the last eight of the UK Championship was particularly promising, though eventually losing to Andy Hicks felt like an opportunity missed, and his more recent efforts have been below what he is capable of. While always dangerous, Gilbert is still to prove he is capable of winning an event of this stature.
Yan Bingtao (9)
The 2021 Masters champion has maintained his progression with another solid start to the current campaign, with a coupe of semi-finals and a runner-up finish at the recent German Masters confirming Yan to be among the leading players in this sport. Still, he suffered a bruising defeat in the final in Berlin only matter of days ago and probably didn’t play well enough all week to suggest he can go one better here. Guaranteed to box clever, Yan will need to raise his game in order to land the knockout blow in an event he reached the final of two years ago, with a Zhao rematch in round two possibly on the cards if he can beat Gilbert.
Hossein Vafaei (10)
A late qualifier having claimed an emotional victory at the Shoot Out – his maiden ranking title – Vafaei might feel as if he has nothing to lose in what will be his first Players Championship appearance. A dangerous operator with a solid all-round game, he certainly has the ability to put it up to Higgins in the first round, though the Iranian has lost the two previous meetings between the pair.
🗣 "You could not play a better frame than this!" 🤩
— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 24, 2022
Hossein Vafaei makes history at the Shoot Out - becoming the first Iranian to win a major snooker tournament 🇮🇷🏆#ClockIsTicking | #BVEuroSeries | @hvafaei147 pic.twitter.com/rIJJ5mgnuq
Kyren Wilson (11)
Having struggled in this event previously, Wilson turned in a much-improved showing when progressing to the last four 12 months ago, only to find eventual winner Higgins an irresistible force. Wilson has continued to plug away since and has made semi-finals in York and at the Champion of Champions so far this term, again coming up short in both. He has promised to win an event of this stature for a while now, but whether he can take down the very best on the biggest stage is a question he needs to truly answer before too long.
Ricky Walden (12)
Class act at his best who has three ranking title wins to his name, though none since 2014. Back problems have plagued him since and thwarted a career that might otherwise have seen him establish himself among the sport’s elite. Thankfully, this season has been much more encouraging, and it took a fine comeback from Zhao to stop him in his tracks in their German Masters semi-final. That followed Walden’s last-four finish at the Northern Ireland Open earlier in the campaign, confirming the 39-year-old to be back in business.
Gary Wilson (13)
2019 World Championship semi-finalist who isn’t the easiest to catch right but remains very dangerous when finding his groove. Wilson did just that when reaching the final of the British Open at the start of the current season, though he’s been largely quiet since. He lost to Williams in that final, and they will renew hostilities in a first-round tie here that ensures a particularly tough opener for the Tyneside potter.
Judd Trump (14)
Having dominated the sport for the last two seasons, winning 11 titles in all, Trump finds himself in the unusual position of being seeded 14th following a largely frustrating first half of the current campaign. Bar a brilliant performance when winning the Champion of Champions, Trump has found big results much harder to come by, with three ranking quarter-finals and a run to the semi-finals of the Masters not yet suggesting he is at crisis point, but certainly not the returns to which he has become accustomed. As such, you can pick holes in his form, though a blockbuster clash with O’Sullivan in round one is just the sort of challenge that has tended to bring out the best in him. With O’Sullivan’s own form seemingly solid, Trump might need his very best to avoid another disappointment in a marquee event, but should he win that match he may prove hard to stop.
Jimmy Robertson (15)
One of the lesser lights in this year’s line-up, but not someone who should be taken lightly. Robertson is no stranger to producing a big shock, having defied the odds to win the European Masters back in 2018 – his sole ranking title to date – and he has knuckled down really well in the last few months following a particularly quiet time of things. Robertson started to the season with a last-four finish at the British Open, while he beat Brecel on the way to reaching the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix. With that result still entitled to be a vivid memory, Robertson ought to relish a rematch in Wolverhampton.
Barry Hawkins (16)
Hawkins might have sneaked into this event by claiming the 16th and final spot, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of an impressive first half of the season for the 2014 champion. He enjoyed a deep run at the UK Championship until next week’s first-round opponent, Zhao, beat him in the semi-finals, before he then took another step forward at the Masters. Hawkins played really well on his way to the final at Alexandra Palace and with plenty of positives to take from that week, he will come into this event full of confidence. However, another clash with that man Zhao in the first round won’t make his task an easy one, although winning it might open up the draw.
