Ronnie O’Sullivan faces old foes in eye-catching Championship League group
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson join the Championship League Snooker Invitational fray on Wednesday for Group Three of the event.
There have been two groups of the event already, with Hossein Vafaei coming through the first and Si Jiahui winning the second on Tuesday night.
The four players surviving from Group Two are Jak Jones, Ali Carter, Chris Wakelin and Rob Milkins, who join the heavyweight trio in the third group, played over Wednesday and Thursday in Leicester.
While it is an extremely low-key event on the calendar, O’Sullivan taking on Selby and Carter will always attract plenty of interest, as will the Rocket facing current world champion Wilson.
Jones will also be looking forward to clashes with some of the game’s elite after making the first 147 of his career in Group Two on Tuesday against Chris Wakelin.
The World Championship finalist from 2024 made it to the final of the second group, losing 3-2 to Si after taking a 2-0 lead.
Each group winner books a spot in the Winners’ Group, played over 3-4 February.
Championship League Snooker Invitational Groups
Group 1 (January 3–4)
Chris Wakelin
Gary Wilson
Jak Jones
Hossein Vafaei – WINNER
Pang Junxu
Ryan Day
Elliot Slessor
Group 2 (January 6–7):
Ali Carter
Si Jiahui – WINNER
Robert Milkins
Chris Wakelin
Jak Jones
Pang Junxu
Ryan Day
Group 3 (January 8–9)
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby
Chris Wakelin
Jak Jones
Robert Milkins
Ali Carter
Group 4 (January 10–11)
Barry Hawkins
Stuart Bingham
Jackson Page
Group 5 (January 20–21)
Judd Trump
Tom Ford
Neil Robertson
Group 6 (January 22–23)
David Gilbert
Jack Lisowski
Noppon Saengkham
Group 7 (January 24–25)
Xiao Guodong
Zhou Yuelong
Matthew Selt
Winners’ Group (February 3-4)
How to watch Championship League Snooker
The event from the Mattioli Arena, Leicester is being streamed live and free on YouTube.
Table One is being shown on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel and Table Two on Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
Group Three begins at 11am on Wednesday with the match schedule available here.
The Championship League will be very handy match practice for the players involved in the Masters, which starts on Sunday at Alexandra Palace.
Wakelin is playing in his third straight group ahead of making his Masters debut against Luca Brecel next Wednesday in London, while Si winning Group Two will be a boost to his confidence ahead of his own Masters debut against Mark Allen on Tuesday.
O’Sullivan, Selby, Wilson and Carter will all also be hoping to sharpen up their games ahead of challenging for the second Triple Crown event of the season.
The Rocket meets John Higgins on Sunday, Carter and Selby face each other on Monday and the world champion takes on Zhang Anda on Wednesday afternoon.
Source link