Selby, Robertson, Murphy and Maguire all out on day three in Thailand

It's been one heck of a day in Thailand for the last 16 of the Players Championship finals in Thailand, a day which has been dominated on Twitter by yet more talk about table conditions and some very unhappy players on that score. On the table it was top seed Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and Stephen Maguire that all went out at the second round stage. Shaun lost three frames having had big leads in each as he went out to Martin Gould, while Neil Robertson was thrashed by Mark Davis. Stephen Maguire came back from 3-0 down against Michael Holt to force a decider, but still went out to the Nottingham potter. Mark Selby also went out to Mark Williams who came back from the very brink, not only trailing 3-1 but stealing both of the fifth and sixth frames which Selby should've won to close the match out. Also, Matt Selt came back from 2-0 down to overcome Chris Wakelin, while Stuart Bingham saw off Mark Allen, Judd Trump came through a real late night battle against Mark King and Joe Perry also came back from 3-1 down to beat Anthony McGill.

Last 16 Results:

Martin Gould 4-2 Shaun Murphy
Judd Trump 4-2 Mark King
Matt Selt 4-2 Chris Wakelin
Mark Williams 4-3 Mark Selby
Michael Holt 4-3 Stephen Maguire
Joe Perry 4-3 Anthony McGill
Mark Davis 4-1 Neil Robertson
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Mark Allen

What that now leaves is a quarter-final line-up where only three of the players are previous ranking winners, with Martin Gould, Matt Selt, Michael Holt, Joe Perry and Mark Davis all hunting down a first ever full ranking event title this week. With conditions as they are and the tournament being best-of-7's throughout it is certainly time to expect the unexpected as we enter the final two days...

Quarter-Final Preview: (Pick in Bold)

Judd Trump Vs Martin Gould - These two guys met less than a week ago, playing a best-of-11 frames match in the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix. That match will live long in Gould's memory having led Trump 5-1 only to lose 6-5. However, Martin has come back from that stronger this week it would appear playing brilliantly with great wins against Michael White and Shaun Murphy so far, and with thoughts in his mind that he should've finished off Trump on Saturday, only 6 days on you can be certain that Gould will be determined to get his own back. Judd meanwhile has had to battle a little bit, and finished his match in the Last 16 against Mark King at roughly 12.50am which doesn't make life any easier for Judd considering he won the World Grand Prix in Llandudno on Sunday evening, meaning a very short turnaround for this. That best-of-11 long format match at the Grand Prix favoured Trump as he was able to play himself into the match, but there is no such time to take any liberties in the best-of-7's and that surely has to favour Gould after the result he had against Judd last time out, but also with the recent victories he's had in the first to four's.

Mark Williams Vs Matt Selt - Mark Williams just keeps on going and going and going in the last month and a half on the snooker table. A semi-final at the Welsh Open has been followed by a final at the Gdynia Open, winning the World Seniors, an Indian Open semi-final and of course the World Grand Prix quarter-final and now a quarter-final here. That is a formidable run and you certainly have the feeling that with how well he is playing, but equally with how relaxed and comfortable he is at the moment he isn't finished yet. Matt Selt meanwhile has had his best season ever, and that is only being increased by his run to the quarter-finals here. What Matt has done is really build up his confidence and self-belief with several good results in the last year, showing he can cut it at this level and that all of the hard work he's put in is worth it. However, his recent run is not in the same league as Mark Williams and if Mark plays how he has been in the last month then you make him the favourite to reach the semi-finals.

Joe Perry Vs Michael Holt - Here we have another good match up between two good players on the table, but two even better guys away from the table. Michael Holt has not had things all his own way on the table in the last couple of months (in fact that's a massive understatement) but this week he's played much better and something seems to have clicked into gear for him, helping him produce wins against Jimmy Robertson and Stephen Maguire. Michael knows that he should've done more in his career than he has and he still has the potential to win a full ranking event and break into the top 16, as he certainly has that quality. Joe Perry is in the same boat as Michael, looking for his first full ranking title and for me he has been knocking on the door a couple of times this season with that final at the Wuxi Classic and both him and Michael Holt are guys that have excelled on the Asian Tour to get to this event. I fancy Joe to win a ranking event before too much longer, and again this week could be his week, and this match is a real tough one to call. If Michael can relax here and play the way he wants, and not end up getting to frustrated then he has as good a chance as anyone, and after the time he's had in the last two months on the table, his expectations may not be as high, which is something that may have damaged him a little in the past.

Stuart Bingham Vs Mark Davis - Again this is another World Grand Prix repeat of a quarter-final from just a week ago. On that day Mark Davis missed a gettable black to win the opening frame and didn't recover afterwards losing 4-0. Two things that demonstrates is the need for a good start in the best-of-7 frames format, but also that things could've been a lot more different than the eventual score line we had a week ago. Stuart Bingham loves playing in Asia as the King of the Asian Tour winning more AT events than anyone else, along with having a ranking event title in Asia, in this seasons Shanghai Masters. Mark Davis meanwhile has a good record in Thailand having twice won the six reds event that is held here, but he just seems a lot more confident in these conditions (and they have been very tough this week) and if things go gritty, he's able to get on top of things. Both are in good form at the moment and will be high on confidence, but Mark has the extra fuel to his determination that a run to at least the final of this event will keep his automatic Crucible qualification hopes alive, whilst a tournament win would pretty much guarantee it, so you'd expect him to be the most inspired.


Those should be four very closely contested games and ones which could easily go either way, nothing is guaranteed in this format at this stage of a tournament. I'll be back at the same time to tomorrow to look ahead to the semi-finals to come on Saturday which are followed later on Saturday by the final.