This is WST report on day 14 at the first event of the season:

Murphy And Stevens Progress

Shaun Murphy and Matthew Stevens moved into the next stage of BetVictor Championship League Snooker at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

Murphy, in his first outing since losing out to Mark Selby in the World Championship final, started out strongly with a century in his opening frame on the way to a 3-0 victory over Michael Collumb.

Jamie Jones was the nearest competitor to Murphy and he started out well with a 3-1 win against Chen Zifan. Jones was straight back out there and looked to be comfortable 2-0 up against Collumb but it was the Scotsman who fought back to snatch a point with a 2-2 draw.

Murphy began the evening session with his second three points of the day, this time against Chen where a break of 71 was the pick of the bunch in the first frame.

That result left Murphy on six points and only needing a point against Jones in their group decider, whilst Jones would need all three. Despite a stuttering start to the opening frames, it was Murphy who showed his experience to get the job done by winning the first two frames. Jones fought back to secure a 2-2 draw but it was Murphy who progressed.

Murphy said: “This is my 24^th year as a professional. I am not sure where those 23 years on tour have gone. I feel a bit like a newbie, to be honest! In all seriousness, it’s a nice way to kick off the season and I’m thrilled to be into the next stage.

“I settled and played quite well. I played well throughout the day. I did have a lot of runs as well. Whatever that intangible quality is, I got away with a lot of mistakes today. Perhaps that was the difference.”

Group 15 on Table 2 was far less clear with Mark King, Andrew Pagett, and Ross Muir, all battling it out with Stevens for the top spot.

Stevens had back-to-back fixtures against Muir and Pagett to start the day where it was a mixed set of results. The Welshman beat Muir 3-1 but lost out to Pagett by the same scoreline to keep the group in the balance.

King opened the evening session with a draw against Muir to move temporarily top. Stevens’ last match came against King with both knowing a win would stand them in good stead.

An assured break of 91 opened things up for Stevens before King bit back with a break of 64 in the second to take things level. At that point it was Stevens who turned it on to take the next two frames and end any hopes of King topping the group.

There was still a wait on for Stevens though, Pagett ended Table 2 action for the day against Muir knowing a win could take him through, but he lost 3-1 to end up finishing bottom of Group 15.

I didn’t see much from yesterday’s action after the first two hours and a bit. Chen Zifan looked very out of sorts. Neither his game nor himself looked in good shape. I hope the lad is ok.

Pagett did better than I expected after being out of the game for over a year with extremely serious health issues. He had still a chance to win the group going into his last match, but eventually finished last with nothing to show for his efforts. Very likely, tiredness kicked in after a long day. It’s a harsh outcome under the circumstances.

Here is the report on the tournament website:

Yan Bingtao and Matthew Selt win respective groups

Yan Bingtao and Matthew Selt are the next names into the second stage of BetVictor Championship League Snooker at the Morningside Arena, Leicester.

Yan eased through his group that contained Jamie Clarke, Louis Heathcote, and Robbie McGuigan with relative ease only dropping two frames in the process.

The 2021 Masters Champion was the highest seed of the two groups on offer on day 13 and he indicated why moving through the gears first against McGuigan with a high break of 94 in a whitewash. Yan continued his ascent to the next stage with a 3-1 win over Heathcote, a classy clearance of 130 the pick of the bunch.

The closest rival to Yan came in Clarke, the Welshman started out with a two-all draw against Heathcote leaving him with plenty of work to do to progress. A 3-0 win over McGuigan ignited hopes meaning he sat two points off Yan heading into their decider that finished the day.

When it came down to the decider, Yan only needed two frames to secure the top spot and he went one better claiming all three points to go three wins from three with a break of 114 in the final frame to seal things.

Yan said: “I am very happy because, in the last month, I have practiced and practiced every day. I have worked very hard. I practiced lots and I feel confident, I am happy. I just played this group first group last year and I played well in the group and finished second. This year I enjoyed the match table.”

“I played better today than in practice. It’s the first time I’ve got to the next stage of this competition. I think the next session will be tough. Maybe I can stay two or three days (to reach the final day of CLS) and I am looking confident here so far.”

Group 27 on table two featured Selt alongside Ashley Carty, Lukas Kleckers, and Fraser Patrick. The group panning out to be far less simple than possibly hoped for table topper Selt. With only one game to go for each player, Selt, Carty, and Patrick were all within a shout of going through.

Back-to-back draws in low scoring affairs against Patrick and Kleckers left former Indian Open champion, Selt needing a win against Carty and results to go his way to secure a passage to the next stage.

Three points against Carty included Selt’s best break of the day (63) to leave him on five points at the top and awaiting other results to see if he’d make the second stage next week. That win eliminated any hopes of Carty making it through.

Patrick meanwhile went into the last match of the day against Kleckers on two points but a win would move him potentially top of the group either on high break or frame difference depending on how it panned out.

Kleckers soon put the brakes on Patrick’s second stage ambitions though, taking the opening two frames including a break of 91 in the second which handed the group to Selt. The 3-1 win for Kleckers meant Patrick went from potentially finishing top at the start of the match to finishing the day bottom of the group.

Tomorrow is Day 14 from the BetVictor Championship League Snooker with 2021 World Championship runner-up Shaun Murphy in Group 17 action against Jamie Jones, Chen Zifan, and Michael Collumb. Table 2 action sees Group 15 and Matthew Stevens, Mark King, Andrew Pagett, and Ross Muir do battle.

It’s good to read Yan Bingtao’s interview. He did indeed play well, and he came to the tournament well prepared. He only played one “lesser” frame, the third in his last match, when he had done the job and won the group. But, even with nothing at stake and nothing to lose or gain,  he immediately got his concentration back in the next frame, the last of the day in that group and he finished with a great 114.

Yan also finally earned almost unreserved praise from Phil Yates. “Almost” because Phill still insists that he doesn’t go into the pack as soon as he could/should. Phil’s “hero” is Stephen Hendry and anything deviating from Stephen’s ways around the table is deemed to attract crticism 😉 …

Both Louis Heathcote and Jamie Clarke played well for most of the day, but not well enough to deny Yan.. Their clash was an excellent match.

Young Robbie McGuigan didn’t win a frame. Only last month Robbie became Northern Ireland Amateur Champion. This once again shows how much the gap between the amateur game and the pro game has widened and it’s a serious issue even if the extend of it might show only in a few years from now.

The commentators observed that the tables, especially table 1, seemed to play better that on the first week, and that the top pockets were a bit more generous too.

I saw nothing from the other table.

Neither of the top seeds progressed yesterday. Joe Perry came into the last match with two wins and only needed a draw against Jimmy Robertson, but Jimmy found his best form when it mattered most. Stephen Maguire didn’t win a match and  finished last of his group…

Here is the report by WST:

Robertson And Hugill Reach Stage Two

Jimmy Robertson and Ashley Hugill moved through to the next stage of BetVictor Championship League Snooker on Day 12 as top seeds Joe Perry and Stephen Maguire failed to get out of their respective groups.

Robertson topped Group 4 after seeing off World Number 20 Perry In the final match of the day, 3-1.

The 2018 European Masters winner started his day off with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sean Maddocks with breaks of 61, 100, and 66 before having to salvage a point by drawing 2-2 from 2-0 down against Jimmy White. Robertson’s key moment in the match coming with the highest break of the tournament so far (140).

The closest competitor to Robertson was Perry, who began emphatically with back-to-back 3-0 wins over White and Maddocks leaving a decisive clash with Robertson. Things were not decided until the final frame, but it was Robertson who secured a 3-1 win to progress.

Robertson said: “I feel a nervous wreck. It’s brilliant to get through, I am really chuffed with that. On the whole, I am happy with parts how I played with, but I also missed a lot of balls today. tTat’s what I’d expect when I haven’t played a competitive tournament for four months, I’m just delighted to get through.

“It’s not a bad position to be in (knowing he needed to win), I didn’t do it convincingly, but a win is a win and I am through to the next stage.

“After going through that last season (nearly losing his Tour card), I don’t really want to go through that again. It wasn’t a nice experience. I’m so happy to come through what I ended up, coming through in the end and keeping my tour card. It might make me stronger this season, so I am hoping to get a few results and crack on this year.”

Hugill’s approach in Group 24 of taking on any ball that looked to be on, as well as demonstrating vision in some excellent long pots proved to be key.

The Yorkshire cueist began with a 2-2 draw against Sunny Akani, including a break of 80, before following it up against Maguire where he took all three points to move top of the group at the break with the only win of the afternoon session.

Another 2-2 draw to start the evening between Akani and John Astley kept the group wide open and an opportunity for Hugill to progress. Akani’s whitewash victory over Maguire, meant Akani moved top of the table but only temporarily.

A victory for Hugill would send him through and it was all one-way traffic against Astley. Hugill securing top spot with a 3-0 win.

Hugill: “It’s just the start to the season I was looking for. I know everyone had drawn to that point so I knew beating Stephen would get me close to winning the group.”

“I realised last season, I was being too tentative in a lot of matches, I realised I was always trying to go under the radar and not backing myself enough. This season I am just trying to play with a lot more of authority around the table.”

I would have liked to see Sunny Akani go through but it wasn’t to be and Hugill was the better player on the day.

In the other group, Sean Maddocks, who is so often presented as a promising young prospect, and is in his second year as a pro,  didn’t win a frame … he was comprehensively outplayed by everyone. The most points he scored in any frame yesterday was 28. Maybe the lad wasn’t well, or maybe he had been unable to prepare properly, or something was wrong with his equipment… who knows? But if that is the level of nowadays top amateurs it’s worrying for the future of our sport, to say the least…