# 2023 Players Championship (snooker)

The 2023 Players Championship (officially the 2023 Duelbits Players Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 to 26 February 2023 at the Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton, England. The 12th ranking event of the 2022–23 season, it was the second event in the Players Series, following the World Grand Prix and preceding the Tour Championship. Featuring the top 16 players on the one-year ranking list as it stood after the 2023 Welsh Open, the event was broadcast by ITV Sport in the United Kingdom, by Eurosport in Europe, and by multiple other broadcasters internationally. The winner received £125,000 from a total prize fund of £385,000.
Neil Robertson won the 2022 event, defeating Barry Hawkins 10–5 in the final, but was unable to defend the title as he was ranked outside the top 16 on the one-year ranking list at the cutoff point. Shaun Murphy won the tournament, defeating Ali Carter 10–4 in the final to claim the 10th ranking title of his career and his first ranking event win since the 2020 Welsh Open. Murphy also made the tournament's five largest breaks, the highest of which was a 145 in the second frame of the final. Of the 23 century breaks made at the event, Murphy compiled 11, breaking the previous tournament record of eight centuries set by John Higgins at the 2021 event.

## Format
### Prize fund

The event featured a prize pool of £385,000 with the winner receiving £125,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
* Winner: £125,000
* Runner-up: £50,000
* Semi-final: £30,000
* Quarter-final: £15,000
* Last 16: £10,000
* Highest break: £10,000
* Total: £385,000

### Seeding list

The seedings for the tournament were based on the one-year ranking list up to and including the 2023 Welsh Open.
| Seed | Player | Total Points |
| 1 | Mark Allen (NIR) | 516,000 |
| 2 | Ryan Day (WAL) | 144,000 |
| 3 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 141,500 |
| 4 | Robert Milkins (ENG) | 139,500 |
| 5 | Ali Carter (ENG) | 136,000 |
| 6 | Ding Junhui (CHN) | 130,500 |
| 7 | Mark Selby (ENG) | 125,500 |
| 8 | Luca Brecel (BEL) | 116,000 |
| 9 | Jack Lisowski (ENG) | 115,000 |
| 10 | Shaun Murphy (ENG) | 112,000 |
| 11 | Gary Wilson (ENG) | 107,500 |
| 12 | Judd Trump (ENG) | 105,500 |
| 13 | Tom Ford (ENG) | 103,500 |
| 14 | Zhou Yuelong (CHN) | 79,500 |
| 15 | Chris Wakelin (ENG) | 73,500 |
| 16 | Joe O'Connor (ENG) | 72,000 |

## Tournament draw

Results from the event are shown below. Players in bold denote match winners.
| Last 16 Best of 11 frames | Last 16 Best of 11 frames | Last 16 Best of 11 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 11 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 11 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | | Final Best of 19 frames | Final Best of 19 frames | Final Best of 19 frames |
| 1 | Mark Allen (NIR) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Joe O'Connor (ENG) | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Joe O'Connor (ENG) | 6 | 16 | Joe O'Connor | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Luca Brecel | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Luca Brecel (BEL) | 6 | 8 | Luca Brecel | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Jack Lisowski (ENG) | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Jack Lisowski (ENG) | 4 | | | | 16 | Joe O'Connor | 4 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Ali Carter | 6 | | | | |
| 5 | Ali Carter (ENG) | 6 | | | | | | | 5 | Ali Carter | 6 | | | | |
| 12 | Judd Trump (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Judd Trump (ENG) | 5 | 5 | Ali Carter | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Robert Milkins | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Robert Milkins (ENG) | 6 | 4 | Robert Milkins | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Tom Ford (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Tom Ford (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | 5 | Ali Carter | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 10 | Shaun Murphy | 10 |
| 3 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | Shaun Murphy | 10 |
| 14 | Zhou Yuelong (CHN) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Zhou Yuelong (CHN) | 2 | 3 | Kyren Wilson | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 11 | Gary Wilson | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Ding Junhui (CHN) | 3 | 11 | Gary Wilson | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Gary Wilson (ENG) | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Gary Wilson (ENG) | 6 | | | | 3 | Kyren Wilson | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 10 | Shaun Murphy | 6 | | | | |
| 7 | Mark Selby (ENG) | 3 | | | | | | | 10 | Shaun Murphy | 6 | | | | |
| 10 | Shaun Murphy (ENG) | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Shaun Murphy (ENG) | 6 | 10 | Shaun Murphy | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 2 | Ryan Day | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Ryan Day (WAL) | 6 | 2 | Ryan Day | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Chris Wakelin (ENG) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |

### Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Brendan Moore Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton, England, 26 February 2023 :
| Ali Carter (5) England | 4–10 | Shaun Murphy (10) England |
| Afternoon: 18–67, 0–145 (145), 54–68, 128–4 (122), 8–46, 99–12, 0–141 (141), 0–112 (112) Evening: 0–89, 0–103 (103), 72–8, 87–9, 48–88, 0–130 (130) |||
| 122 | Highest break | 145 |
| 1 | Century breaks | 5 |

## Century breaks

There were 23 century breaks made during the event. Murphy made the highest of the tournament, a 145 during the final. Of the 23, 11 were made by Murphy, including the five highest.
* 145, 141, 137, 135, 133, 130, 112, 107, 105, 104, 103 – Shaun Murphy
* 132, 125 – Joe O'Connor
* 126 – Ding Junhui
* 122, 107 – Ali Carter
* 121, 104, 100 – Kyren Wilson
* 115 – Gary Wilson
* 104 – Jack Lisowski
* 102 – Ryan Day
* 100 – Zhou Yuelong