This is WST report on day2 at the 2024 Players Championship:

DAY TWO ROUND-UP: ROCKET EXTENDS WINNING RUN

Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his relentless winning streak, claiming a 16^th consecutive match victory by beating Zhou Yuelong 6-2 at the Johnstone’s Paint Players Championship in Telford.

The Rocket is going for a fourth straight title, having won his last three events at the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Grand Prix.

It’s been a remarkable period for O’Sullivan, who has now extended his record Triple Crown and ranking title tallies to 23 and 41 respectively.

China’s Zhou has suffered two deciding frame losses at the hands of O’Sullivan this season. He started this evening’s encounter strongly by taking a 2-1 advantage.

However, from that point, Zhou faltered. The seven-time World Champion racked up five on the bounce, highlighted by a 136 break, to emerge a 6-2 victor.

Next up O’Sullivan faces an intriguing last eight meeting with either Mark Selby or Barry Hawkins, who play tomorrow afternoon.

Ali Carter scored a 6-2 win over Tom Ford to book a quarter-final showdown with Judd Trump.

Carter has already faced Trump twice this season, having lost the Wuhan Open final 10-7 and beaten the Ace in the Pack 6-5 at the Masters.

“It’s a brilliant game going up against Judd. I’m second favourite, but I’m really looking forward to it, and it is a great match to be involved in” said five-time ranking event winner Carter.

“These events are our prestige tournaments. These ITV events are in second just behind the Triple Crown. The Home Nations events are very difficult, but they seem to suit Gary Wilson. I’m just trying to focus on these big ones and I’m delighted to get the win today.”

Mark Allen crafted a rare 146 break during a dazzling display which saw him beat Mark Williams 6-3 and make the quarter-finals.

The Pistol started the match in blistering form, with the 146 in the opener, followed by breaks of 112 and 102 to storm into a 3-0 lead.

Allen then had the upper hand in the fourth, but Williams came from behind to take it with a break of 71 and trail by two at the mid-session.

When play resumed, Williams further reduced his arrears with 69 to take the fifth and make it 3-2. However, breaks of 94, 70 and 68 helped Allen to take three of the next four to emerge a 6-3 victor and book his place in the quarters.

Allen said: “That was the best I’ve played since winning the Champion of Champions. There was one match at the English Open where I made four centuries, but I didn’t feel in control there. I had a good idea of where it was going to go today, so that’s a good sign.

“When I lost to John Higgins at the Welsh Open last week I was so disheartened with how I played. Not the result because you can lose to John even playing well. I needed to change something. It is probably the only time I’ve ever gone straight on the practice table after I lost to see what I could do.”

Recently crowned Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson continued his momentum with a 6-4 defeat of Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei.

Wilson top scored with 95 in the decisive frame and will now face Allen in the quarter-finals.

Ronnie may have won but he was probably far from happy with his own performance. He was pretty awful before the MSI, and although he improved in the second part of the match, he was not at his best by any stretch of the imagination! When that happens, Ronnie often gets down on himself. He hates playing badly (by his own standards) …

Here are the scores and the match stats (Thanks Kalacs!).

That low mood probably explains the downbeat quotes reported in this article:

…

When asked by ITV for his thoughts on the match, O’Sullivan sharply responded: “Yeah I am not going to comment on other players anymore so… I am just pleased to be through. I don’t assess my performances really, I make that a golden rule and just play. A bit of match practice, take what I can from the tour and move on.”

…

“I’ve always been refreshed that wasn’t the thing, I am just trying to get away with playing as least as I can,” he added. “I feel happier doing that. Just treat it like a bit of match practice, take what I can from the tour and that’s it really. I’ve been doing that all my career (picking and choosing when to play) there’s other reasons why but try and make sure I am sharp for when I am doing my other bits and pieces. This is all icing on the cake for me, whatever I get from this tour.

…

“I’ve got my exhibitions, I’ve got my ambassador work, that’s my main thing and I just fit a few tournaments in around that,” he continued. “I am contracted to play in these certain tournaments so I will play in them. But the rest is all up for grabs.

“I love the fans, that’s the most important thing to me. As long as the fans still want to see me play and still want to watch me and they still feel like they can give value for money that’s the most important thing.

“But for me it’s just a day out really, I just enjoy getting away from home, booking in my AirBnb, doing my gym, doing my running and then just fit a few frames of snooker in. It’s like paid practice really.“

I honestly don’t think we should read too much in these “fresh after match” quotes.

In the afternoon, I watched the Allen v Williams match. Allen played really well. If he can bring this form at The Crucible, he will be a very serious contender for the title this season! Williams wasn’t all awful but there were clear signs here and there that, at nearly 49, his eyesight isn’t what it used to be. That’s sad, inevitable but sad all the same. Williams, in many ways, is the opposite to Ronnie. With his wife’s support, Willo has taken the decision to never retire until forced off the tour, he just accepts things the way they are and makes the best of it. Having and keeping this mindset is a great quality and a great gift too. Not everyone is blessed with Willo’s mental and emotional strength.