Ryan Day heads into this week’s Ladbrokes Players Championship aiming to become the first player to win three consecutive tournaments for 17 years.

Welshman Day has already triumphed at the Gibraltar Open and Romanian Snooker Masters this month, winning 11 consecutive matches, and enters the fray in Llandudno today against Mark Selby.

The last player to win three titles on the bounce was John Higgins, back in 2001 when he landed the Champions Cup, Scottish Masters and British Open crowns. If Day beats Selby today, he will go above Mark Allen in the Race to the Crucible.

Tonight in North Wales, Ronnie O’Sullivan plays his opening match against Graeme Dott. The Rocket is on course to become the first player ever to win £1 million in prize money in a single season.

So far this term, O’Sullivan has banked £668,500. The World Championship winner’s cheque of £425,000 alone would push him into seven figures. Or victory in Llandudno this week would bring him up to £793,500, going into the China Open where a top prize of £225,000 will be up for grabs.