Players Championship 2023 LIVE - Mark Allen faces off against Joe O'Connor, Ryan Day goes up against Chris Wakelin

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He's got some serious stones - the way he took this clearance, and various others, playing difficult shots under pressure - has been extremely impressive. He meets Luca Brecel or Jack Lisowski next while Mark, though he looked a little better towards the end, needs to find some form, and fast.

Joe's match-winning clearance in that Scottish semi against Robertson was spectacular - Dave Hendon tells us that afterwards, he said he didn't know how good it was because he was concentrating so hard - and when black to yellow goes well, this looks like the end! Mark's look looks like that too!

But after bagging the two loose balls, he doesn't get the cannon he needs off the black and a poor safety dangles one for Joe! The opener, to left corner, is long and acute, but if he sinks it and gets on a colour, everything else on the table pots ... and he eases it down, lands near the yellow, and if he can hold his nerve - a colossal if given the situation - round two is his!

Mark gets in again, and he's playing much better now than before the interval. If he can break the reds that remain clustered, he'll close to within one and have Joe starting to wonder.

Oh Joe! He sends pink towards left-centre expecting it to drop off, it holds ... and Mark can only retort with a red, opting to ignore the same pink on the basis that if he misses, it probably means the match.

Oh yes! Joe sends a starter hurtling into right corner - he's 5/6 on long pots tonight - a blue follows, then a gentle cut-back red, really well-taken. There's lots of work to do, but this is the chance for which he'll have been hoping.

Mark kills the frame, but still needs three more on the spin to avoid defeat.

Joe leaves the white on the top, but Mark finds a red then plays a loose safety off the green instead. It doesn't cost him, but a missed red to right-middle hands Joe a decent chance ... and he misses to left! The way the balls were, he might've stolen had he sunk the starter, but instead he'll have to sit and watch as Mark secures things.

Nah, Mark power-strokes a long starter to left corner knowing that if he misses he's leaving loads. He's lost a bit of that this last year and it's worked well for him, but that isn't to say there's not a better still version of himself that he can find if he just plays a little more freely. In the meantime, though, if you're struggling to control of the white it'll always be difficult and that's what happens to Mark again, off the black, so he plays safe with a decent but not decisive lead, 91 left on the table.

Joe gets a double-kiss that leaves Mark a starter to left-middle, through a little gap, that he takes nicely. And when he digs into the pack, he looks in good shape, only to cannon a red off the blue, with a big gap waiting for him, and land on the top cushion. That's end of break, and Joe will know that if he can fashion one chance from the upcoming safety exchange, that might be enough to see him through.

Ryan Day 6-2 Chris Wakelin

Joe's composure is something, and a total clearance of 132 means the number 16 seed needs one more frame to eject the number one seed!

A one-visit kill is exactly what Joe needs here - another fine mid-distance red, followed by a pink confirm this is that - and coming immediately after Mark's 91, it makes the point that he's not fazed by his opponent's improvement, at all. Needing one more frame for the match, he's in great touch.

Lovely work from Joe, whose focus around the table is very impressive. He's moved up levels this last year, regularly progressing beyond the early rounds of competitions and, with the worlds only a couple of months away, it's worth noting that his is the kind of game that translates well to the longer format - think Mark Selby or Kyren Wilson.

This is the pivotal frame, you sense: if Joe wins it, it'll take an almighty effort from Mark to win four straight, but if Mark wins it, his extra class might start to tell as Joe feels his lead being eroded. And it's Joe in first when left one to left-middle - it wriggles in off the near jaw, a blue follows it, and mid-distance red is beautifully knucked home. The pack isn't easy, a little broken so balls not touching each other, but few available, so it'll take a major effort to manufacture something decent from here - but as I type, Joe develops a couple more balls off the black, the careful way he accumulates, paying proper attention to each shot, is working well for him,

Ryan Day 5-2 Chris Wakelin

Ach, on 91 Mark misses the black when you don't expect him to, but he's within two again.

That snooker Mark laid held the key to this frame, and once again he's seeking a ton with the frame safe.

Mark's not hitting these as he wants, but he's able to redeem shots he doesn't like with pots that are good enough. He should win the frame from here and he knows it, which brings its own pressure.

Joe goes at one hard and misses, to Mark plays off it, now in baulk, to snuggle in behind the yellow. And Joe leaves his bottom-rail escape well short, so this is a chance for the Pistol to rack up. Can he keep a hold of the white?

Ryan Day 4-2 Chris Wakelin

Sixty-six and the frame and Joe, who's playing beautifully, is just two away!

A fine yellow, sent into its own pocket before coming back up the table, and this looks a lot like 4-1! Mark will be rueing losing the white when in at the start of the frame, but this break has taken some crafting.

More good work from Joe, who looks really solid under pressure. He got to the final of the Scottish Open not long ago, losing to Gary Wilson having beaten Neil Robertson in the semi, so he knows what this is all about and edges in front in the frame, working out the red-removal really well.

Joe plays a superb safety, leaving Mark in behind the yellow, and he gets nowhere near hitting; Joe might put him back but opts to take on a starter to his preferred left-centre pocket; Mark, though, can't send it down left corner, and leaves a much simpler pot to set his opponent away. The question is whether he can parlay it into something serious.

Er, no. Mark runs out of position and plays safe off the brown, precipitating another safety exchange. The loose reds are mainly gone, so working things out from here may take a while.

the reds are pretty well-spread, but none are on, so we've a tense safety exchange awaiting the error that will hand someone points. And it's Joe who pots first after Mark misses, only to botch pink with rest and offer the initiative to Mark. I wonder if that might be a turning point in this match.

A good long starter for Mark, into the pack off brown and cushion ... but to little avail, so it's safe and back to baulk. In the interval, Stephen chastised his negativity - he couldn't grasp why he played safe rather than take on the yellow in frame two - he reckoned you might in a decider, but at 1-0 down in a best of 11, you attack, especially if you're not feeling great, as the only cure for that is potting balls.

Ryan Day 2-2 Chris Wakelin

Not to be, 85 and the frame, but it's a start. see you in 15 for what should be a fascinating conclusion.

Mark confidently deposits frame-ball, a black, into left corner, and the leading ton-maker this term is hunting another.

Mark comes off a black and into the pack; it looks like end of break, but he conjures a lovely recovery cutting fine to right-middle, and might that get him going in this match?

Joe leaves a long red that's close to left corner, Mark almost misses it but does well to land on the pink, and if he can't convert into something significant what is now a pretty decent chance, he's in real trouble.

As Phil Yates notes, we've seen nothing from Mark to suggest he's about to sort this, but with a player of his calibre, his best game is always close by. It'd be a tough break were the player of the season to run out of form before the worlds - especially given his poor record at the Cruce, and redressing that might have something to do with his more conservative game. But back to the here and now, Joe misses a long one, Mark misses to left-middle, Joe misses another and goes in-off, leaving nothing.

Ryan Day 2-1 Chris Wakelin

Joe's saved his best snooker for the business end of frames, and he's halfway to round two! Mark needs the last of the mini-sesh, severely.

Joe's safety has been on-point tonight, and now his potting says hello! He powers in a fine one to left corner, the angle acute, adds a black, a really good yellow that gets him onto the green, and the remaining colours are on their spots! this is going to have Mark feeling exceptionally poorly.

And immediately, Joe punishes that negativity with another pearler to left-middle. The reds aren't great, but they weren't when Joe came to the table in the last frame - and I'm sure that's not a reality lost on Mark. His opponent is into this, and when he leaves the white short, he simply rolls a beauty into the green pocket, then develops red off red, sees away a tricky one, then with the last of the 15 on the side, nuzzles in behind the black.

Oh Mark! He misses a close-range red, cut to right-middle, and if he were to lose this frame as well, it'd be a right sair yin, putting pressure on the last of the mini-sesh which is to follow. But Joe can't manage more than a starter, so a relieved Mark returns to the table to play a containing safety; he's not himself out there, at all, even given his stylistic tweak.

Mark grinds through the start of the run but he's looking a bit better now, and the frame is at his mercy.

Joe takes a starter but not especially well; a cut-back black, though partially redeems the situation, sending reds all over ... but none are easy. So he takes on one to right-middle, misses, and Mark cracks an opener of his own into the leather. If he can't make something significant from here, he'll really start to worry.

Ryan Day 1-1 Chris Wakelin

A foul from Mark, and that's another frame to Joe! He looks the more confident player at the moment, his potting to left-middle especially impressive, and that was a really excellent break.

...and it's there! Joe attempted no heroics there, just trying to get it down, so rolls blue towards left corner next ... and it doesn't really get close. This time, Mark does return to the table, getting close with his first snooker attempt but not close enough.

A good yellow brings Joe around baulk and back for the green, despatched with the rest, and if the brown goes down Mark will need two snookers...

Terrific shot from Joe, who clobbers home the black, comes off the side and develops the final red. Yellow, green and brown aren't on their spots, so there's work yet to do...

But a decent black promotes another red so the run continues, and though Joe will need the last two, near black cush, I think he can get to both.

Lovely from Mark, a straight diagonal starter drilled to right corner, and that'll give him some confidence - perhaps that's why he's refusing pots we expect him to take, more than imposing any tactical imperative on himself. A pink follows, but he's not great on the next red so tries an eye-of-the-needle job to right-middle, misses - that pot was harder than the yellow he refused earlier in the frame - and Joe gets in with another goodun to left-middle. The remaining reds aren't nicely set, so I doubt he'll steal the frame at this visit - but he's back in it.

A poor safety from Joe leaves a red to right corner and Mark really should close out the frame from here, but he's changed, so as soon as he runs into trouble, rather than take on a difficult yellow he plays safe. It's never a telling snooker though, and doesn't yield any advantage.

Not quite, he turns down a red to right-middle, and I wonder if he's quite found the balance between the flair that defines him, and the circumspection that's turned him into a regular tournament winner. He goes at a long red to right corner, gets close and it bounces out of the jaws, then Joe misses a cut to left corner, and we're back playing safety. It feels like this might be a long evening.

Left a dangler to right-middle, Joe guides it home nicely, but doesn't have anything on after sinking the yellow, so we've a bit more safety, then Mark floats a beautiful starter from central to green pocket, and that's proper Mark Allen; can he make it count?

Ryan Day 1-0 Chris Wakelin

Mark didn't look himself there, refusing a pot he should've attacked, then allowing Joe to take the frame without making him fight.

A fine red from Joe takes him closer to the frame ... and even though he can't to it, Mark stays in his seat, not bothered to try for a snooker!

This good work from Joe, who gets a useful lead then tries to liberate a few more reds while moving out the pink from the bottom of the cluster. He develops just one, so soon has to go again, a cut-back black and into the four that are still bunched; he tickles one out but can't cut it to left corner - and it's frame-ball - so Mark returns to the table with things still in the balance.

Mark lost 5-1 to Robert Milkins last week - Milkins of course went on to win the Welsh Open - and described his performance as "pitiful". Truth is, he's not been playing that well the last few months, he's just been finding ways to win - often slowing everything down, especially against other attacking players, which isn't his natural game. Anyhow, Mark ignores a starter to right-middle and Joe sends one down left, the balls spread nicely for him to accumulate.

Who came back to force a decider with Mark at the World Grand Prix. Mark knows he'll have to play better than he has been recently, while Joe is confident.

Mark Allen v Joe O'Connor - that's the game we'll focus on - and Ryan Day v Chris Wakelin.

And welcome to the 2023 Players' Championship!

Mark Allen – the year’s most in-form player – begins his quest for a second Players Championship title with a clash against 16th seed Joe O'Connor.

Allen sits top of the one-year list after successes at the Northern Ireland Open, the UK Championship and the World Grand Prix. He won the 2016 title when the event was called the Players Tour Championship Finals and goes for a second title from 19:00.

Ryan Day – winner of the British Open and second on the one-year list – takes on Chris Wakelin in the other match, also starting at 19:00 UK time.

In the UK, the 2023 Players Championship is also available on ITV4 - Sky channel 120, BT 26, Virgin 118.

You can also stream the 2023 Players Championship online live and on-demand on ITVX.

All the latest news, analysis and video content can be enjoyed on Eurosport.co.uk's dedicated Players Championship page. The event hub page will bring all the content together in one place.

The last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will be best-of-11 frames, while the final is best-of-19 frames.

Players eliminated in the first round will receive £10,000. Those knocked out in the quarters will get £15,000, with losing semi-finalists getting £30,000. The overall runner-up will take home £50,000 and the champion pockets £125,000.

1 - Mark Allen v Joe O'Connor

2 - Luca Brecel v Jack Lisowski

3 - Ali Carter v To be decided

4 - To be decided v To be decided

5 - To be decided v Zhou Yuelong

6 - Ding Junhui v To be decided

7 - Mark Selby v To be decided

8 - Ryan Day v Chris Wakelin

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Stream more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk