Luca Brecel beat Lu Ning in the final in Leicester (Picture: Matchroom Sport)
The Championship League opened the snooker season on 28 June and it finally came to a close on 29 July with Luca Brecel crowned the first ranking event winner of the campaign.
Let’s be clear, this is nobody’s favourite tournament, even the Bullet wouldn’t be putting it in his top five events as he carries the trophy back to Belgium.
Very short-format matches, over a quite incredibly long time, behind closed doors and with many players rusty after their summer break.
The Crucible it ain’t, but that’s enough of the negatives because despite all that there are things to take away from the Championship League.
Of course the biggest names do not take it as seriously as when they head to Sheffield of York, or even Milton Keynes or Brentwood, but over a month-long ranking event plenty has cropped up.
We have seen 106 centuries over the tournament as players warmed up to the task and having played 10 matches to lift the trophy, Brecel deserves a lot of credit for emerging from a high quality field.
Luca Brecel is talking the talk and walking the walk
Brecel is a player on the up (Picture: Matchroom Sport)
Brecel is announcing himself as a regular contender at the top of the sport both with his words and with his cue.
After winning his first group, the 27-year-old made it clear he was expecting to do well and we should all get ready to see him win a lot more matches.
‘I practiced a lot during the summer, playing some really good stuff in practice so it’s not a surprise, but it’s always nice to do it on the match table,’ said Brecel.
‘I feel like I’m playing a lot better than last season so hopefully it’s going to be a good season again.
‘I don’t have many points to defend this season so the only way is up. If I can get some good results like last season, I could finish maybe top four by the end of the season, so a lot to play for.’
It is a huge task for him, but the Bullet will climb to ninth in the world after lifting the trophy, his best ever ranking. It is his third ranking title and the first time he has won them in successive seasons.
He showed great poise under pressure in his third group, needing to beat Zhao Xintong 3-0 in his last game to reach the final, which is exactly what he did. At 1-1 in the final he made two big breaks looking incredibly calm to get over the line.
Brecel has always had the talent, but with confidence, experience and a winning habit now added into the mix, he is going to be a threat in everything this year.
Zhao Xintong is close to the top but not quite there
Zhao Xintong showed fragility when it mattered in Leicester (Picture: Getty Images)
Zhao Xintong was making the Championship League look extremely easy when many others were not. There were plenty of rusty players on show, but the Cyclone wasn’t one of them.
He breezed through his first two groups and kicked off the final Friday with two wins, meaning he just needed to avoid a 3-0 loss to Brecel in his last match to reach the showpiece.
Having looked imperious, Zhao faltered for the first time in the entire competition, missing a number of balls he would expect to get when he really needed to get them.
Zhao won’t be losing too much sleep over it, but it was a concerning lapse at the crucial point. The 25-year-old is heading for the top of the sport, but he still has things to learn and improvements to make.
He showed off his talent and work ethic in this event, both of which mean that he could dominate snooker at one point, but it is not going to happen quite yet while he still shows fragility at times.
Pang Junxu is going places
Pang Junxu continues his ascent through the world rankings (Picture: Getty Images)
22-year-old Pang Junxu cemented his position as one of the brightest young stars in the sport as he continues his march up the world rankings.
The Chinese won Rookie of the Year after turning pro in 2020 and he is improving all the time, working hard at the Ding Junhui Academy.
China’s greatest ever player has claimed Pang is the hardest practicer in the academy, which says a lot, and it is paying dividends as he makes the kind of progress early in his career that so many youngsters find difficult, if not impossible.
Pang topped his first group ahead of Ryan Day, Dylan Emery and Reanne Evans, before much more impressively seeing off Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ali Carter and Yuan Sijun from his second group.
He didn’t emerge from his final group, but did pick up draws against grizzled vets Stuart Bingham and Ricky Walden.
Pang is not bursting into finals or anything, but making very impressive progress. We can expect to start seeing him reach quarter-finals in the near future and break the top 32 for the first time. An impressive player.
And while we’re giving a nod to young players to impress, a word for Chang Bingyu, Aaron Hill, Yuan Sijun, Ben Mertens and Florian Nuessle, who all caught the eye at times. There is plenty of emerging talent around.
Mix it up more in the commentary box
One treat of the Championship League is the variety of voices we get in the commentary box during the Matchroom event.
There were a number of players gracing the airwaves, including Kyren Wilson, Michael Holt, Joe Perry, Gary Wilson, Fergal O’Brien, Mark Davis, Steven Hallworth, Peter Lines, Rod Lawler and possibly some others that I’ve forgotten.
It’s great to mix things up and get insight, stories and opinions from players we don’t necessarily hear from that often. It might not work so much in other events, but it’s great when it happens and if players can be given the opportunity to commentate on the odd frame elsewhere, then they should.
Also, a shout out to commentary heroes Dave Hendon and Phil Yates who were working on every single day of that monstrous comp. This is nothing new to learn, but they do a great job nearly the entire year round these days.
Ronnie O’Sullivan really can create a headline out of nowhere
The world champion and world number one has found all sorts of ways to get himself into headlines over his long career and he continues to do so at 46 years old.
O’Sullivan breezed through his first group stage in Leicester but then suffered shock defeats to Pang and Yuan as he fell at stage two.
With little on the line against Ali Carter in his final match, the Rocket was clearing up in the final frame and spiced up the break by loudly breaking wind.
It isn’t the first time the Rocket has done this and he seems to find it very funny, which the referee did as well to be fair, as did a huge amount of people on social media.
Depressingly enough, the clip I posted on Twitter of the incident was far more popular than anything else I’ve ever stuck on that website.
The sport’s biggest star really does attract attention, even for as little as a fart.
Bonus thing we learned…
Some fans might not love the Championship League, but the players don’t mind it at all.
Here’s Anthony Hamilton: ‘It’s a good tournament. It’s a good time of the year to play it.
‘Not too much pressure, not too much money to be lost, if you know what I mean. Just gets people back in the swing of it a little bit, I think it’s good timing.’
Thank you Phil for this. It sums up perfectly why I believe that this event is the perfect season opener.
I will add that, with every match streamed, it’s an excellent opportunity to watch players we don’t see so often on TV, including the rookies. It’s also important for the lesser known players needing sponsors. The main tour isn’t cheap for the players with, basically, half of them earning nothing in most events. In this one it’s “only” a quarter of them earning nothing, and all matches being shown on YouTube or Matchroom.live might motivate more sponsors eager to give their brand exposure.
Luca Brecel won the first ranking event of the season, yesterday evening. It was his third in total and the first whith his father Carlo present to watch him.
‘Fantastic. It’s also the first time with him when I won a trophy, all the other times I was alone, so this one’s for him.‘ was Luca’s reaction.
Belgium’s Luca Brecel claimed the third ranking title of his career, defeating China’s Lu Ning 3-1 in final of the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester.
It’s the second time he has won the Championship League, following his victory in the non ranking version in 2020. On that occasion he edged out Ben Woollaston into second place.
The 27-year-old landed his first ranking title back in 2017, when he beat Shaun Murphy in the title match of the China Championship. He added his second victory at last season’s 2021 Scottish Open, defeating John Higgins in the final. Today’s win over Lu secures his third taste of ranking glory.
Brecel started the day in a group against Zhao Xintong, Xiao Guodong, and Lyu Haotian. He got off to a rocky start with a 3-1 loss against Xiao. However, 3-0 whitewash wins over Lyu and Zhao were enough to see him seal a place in the final.
Lu was seeking his maiden ranking title and he topped a group consisting of Ricky Walden, Stuart Bingham and Pang Junxu. That set up a best of five showdown with Brecel for the trophy.
Lu made 67 in the first frame, but Brecel stole it on the black to establish a 1-0 lead. Lu restored parity, but that proved to be the last frame he would win in the tournament. In the third, the Belgian Bullet contributed with 72 of his own to be one away from victory. Breaks of 72 and 100 saw Brecel claim two on the bounce and run out a 3-1 victor.
Brecel said: “I feel fantastic. I played so well for the whole tournament. I felt like I was playing in practice. I really enjoyed it. To be here as a winner is strange, because I could’ve lost the last game today, but I had to win 3-0 so it was crazy. Zhao missed a couple at the end with the rest which he usually makes.
“It’s unbelievable. This is all your can wish for. It’s the best start you can hope for. I can’t wait to play in the next tournament in Germany.”
This is the table summarising what happened yesterday:
Group 1 was very close, with three players finishing with two wins and a defeat. It was all decided on frame difference. Lyu Haotian had a truly miserable day … he started badly and didn’t recover.
Group 2 was close as well, with a lot of draws. It was not the greatest of standard either. Lu Ning dominated that group: he was the only one to actually win matches in that group: he defeated Bingham and Pang.
Shaun Murphy took on Elliot Slessor in his opening match of the day. The Magician took the first, before Slessor hit back in the second to level at 1-1. Back to back century breaks from 2005 World Champion Murphy then gave him all three points thanks to a 3-1 win.
Walden was the main man vying for top spot with Murphy, but he was always up against it after a 2-2 draw with Anthony Hamilton despite leading 2-0. Walden did go into the evening top of the group though, thanks to a 3-0 win over Slessor.
Murphy then defeated Hamilton 3-1, before the Sheriff of Pottingham recovered to end his day on a positive note thanks to a 3-0 defeat of Slessor.
In the group decider, Walden took the early initiative with 64 in the first, but Murphy edged the second 65-56 to level and be one away from the final day. Murphy made 62 in the third and needed one red to force Walden into needing snookers. He missed his chance and Walden stole the frame before taking the third to lead 2-1. Walden needed one more to top the group and he fired in a huge winning break of 135 to seal his progression.
Walden said: “When I finished off, that’s the best frame I’ve played all day. It’s been a bit of a slog at times and I rode my luck. I was fortunate at the end and put a good break together. I thought I was done. I didn’t want to be driving home on the back of a safety shot. You get used to winning games. I didn’t play well today but luck has been with me.”
Brecel started the day out against amateur Daniel Wells with a 2-2 draw. In the second contest of the day on Table 2, Chris Wakelin didn’t hang around, as he dispatched Jamie Clarke 3-0. The man from Rugby edged the opening two, before a break of 93 in the final frame wrapped up the victory. Wells was proving tough to beat and he took a 2-1 lead over Wakelin, but a crushing break of 108 restored parity to see the match end 2-2.
When the evening session got underway, Brecel whitewashed Clarke 3-0 thanks to breaks of 91 and 45 in the last two frames. The Belgian Bullet went from strength to strength to beat Wakelin by the same scoreline and top the group.
and the table
Once again the table, as shown, is incorrect: although the last match of the day is shown in the “results” section, it’s not been taken into account in the table itself.
And once again, the non British winner, Luca Brecel, has not been interviewed despite him speaking English perfectly well.
I didn’t watch much of the action, not by lack of interest, but because being a grand-mother has taken priority. Mind, you, being stuck in Santorini, I hadn’t seen my now seven years old grand-son in the flesh since almost three years… and I’m unlikely to watch much of today’s “day time” action for the same reason.
One match I did watch was the Walden v Slessor one. It was absolutely terrible, so much so that it was almost hilarious. The players though weren’t seeing the funny side of it. It was a struggle fro start to finish. I had also watched the end of Walden v Hamilton. The Sheriff still has it and Ricky was lucky to get a draw out of this one.
By the end of today, the winners of Group 1 and 2 respectively will meet in the 2022 BetVictor Championship League Snooker final in a best of 5 to be crowned champion.
I would dearly love to see Lyu Haotian lift the tropy tonight. Nothing against any of the other competitors, but Lyu had a very traumatic debut on the tour. Snooker almost lost him. He has looked much better recently, but still not as brilliant as the kid I had watched for the first time in China some 10 years ago. A title might bring that spark back and snooker would be the winner as well. He’s in a tough, tough group though.
Group 2 will be on table 1, with Zhao Xintong, Luca Brecel, Xiao Guodong, and Lyu Haotian and Group 1 will be on table 2 with Stuart Bingham, Ricky Walden, Lu Ning, and Pang Junxu.
None of the players involved has currently qualified for the 2022 Champion of Champions.
Pang faced the tricky challenge of ousting Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ali Carter, and Yuan Sijun if he was to make the third stage on Friday. Yuan began the day with an impressive 3-0 win over O’Sullivan. Pang meanwhile took the opener against Carter, who quickly levelled. However, Pang composed breaks of 69 and 50 to wrap up a 3-1 win.
Carter’s hopes of progressing were soon ended by a 2-2 draw with Yuan. The final frame was scrappy, but Yuan edged it to seal it after 40 minutes of play.
Into the evening session and O’Sullivan knew he needed start quickly with a win over Pang in his first match. Pang took the first, before embarking on a 147 attempt in the second, failing on 104 to lead 2-0. The Rocked pulled a frame back, but it was Pang who ran out a 3-1 victor.
The 2021 Rookie of the Year knew a draw would be enough to top the group in his final match against Yuan, who needed all three points to go through. Yuan made 57 in the first to lead, but Pang came back to level at 1-1. They shared the following two frames and Pang progressed.
Over on Table 2, Zhao was in no mood to hang around as he beat compatriot Chang Bingyu 3-0 in a match which included a superb 145 break. Mark Allen was on the end of a 3-0 defeat to Gary Wilson in the next match, before he recovered to beat Chang 3-1.
Zhao knew that he could put things beyond doubt with a strong showing at the top of the evening session against Wilson and he did just in a 3-0 rout. The Cyclone fired in breaks of 123, 46, and 101 to be in an unassailable position and top the group with a game to spare. He ended with a 2-2 draw against Allen.
and the table
Once again, all this was probably written before the end of play. Ronnie did bet Carter by 3-0 in the last match of Group A. That put him third in the table with 3 points and a frame difference of -2, whilst Carter comes last, with 1 point and a frame difference of -5.
Here are the scores of the matches played by Ronnie:
As I wrote in the comments section, Ronnie appeared to be in a bit of discomfort during the first session, frequently massaging his arm. Both Yuan and Pang played very well. Ronnie wasn’t at his best but he didn’t actually played that badly. He did get some slices of bad luck, a bit more than his fair share… in such short matches, it matters.
David Hendon also reflected that he may not have shown his usual level of intensity when 100% committed, but that it was to be expected. He didn’t need to play in this event, he needs neither the points, nor the money. David added that it was good to have him there and in stage 2. Higgins didn’t enter, Trump and Selby didn’t reach stage 2. Williams, like Ronnie came third in his stage 2 group.
That said, although the match didn’t matter much, he was commited and determined to win against Carter and he played really well in that one!
Matchroom Multi Sport have shared the Ronnie matches on their YouTube Channel
Today is the last day of stage 2 featuring Group G with Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden, Anthony Hamilton, and Elliot Slessor and Group B with Luca Brecel, Chris Wakelin, Jamie Clarke, and Daniel Wells.
No matter what will happen today, we will have 5 young Chinese players amongst the 8 who will compete on the final day (62,5%). There are 27 Chinese professionals in a field of 131 (about 20%).
David Hendon also reflected on the influence of Ding Junhui. Ding might never become a World Champion, and his form isn’t what it used to be. He’s still young though. But, no matter what happens or not for him in the years to come, he is the one that inspired the snooker boom in China. He had a major influence on snooker’s destiny as an international sport. It took more time than expected, but the current young Chinese generation now looks ready to take a lion’s share of titles in the near future. When I write “it took more time than expected” … well I will add this: those expectations were unrealistic. The difficulties those young Chinese players of the “first generation” faced were grossly underestimated. It isn’t easy to move alone on the other side of the world, away from your family, to adapt to a different culture, diffrent food, needing to learn a different language, a different way of life. Now structures and academies are in place to help. They didn’t exist some 12-15 years ago. Most young brits wouldn’t be able or willing to do that. Neil Robertson repeatedly spoke about how hard it was for him, and it certainly was very hard. Yet, he didn’t need to learn a different language and the social and cultural gap he faced was comparatively much smaller.
Bingham started off positively with a 3-0 whitewash win over Ben Woolaston. Jamie Jones had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Jordan Brown, who made back-to-back centuries from 2-0 down to snatch a point. Woolaston defeated Brown 3-1 to end the afternoon with a result which left Bingham in pole position.
Bingham began the evening knowing he needed just one more win. Ball Run delivered just what was needed with breaks of 51 and 73 on his way to a 3-1 defeate of Jones. The day was complete by Bingham drawing 2-2 with Brown.
Bingham: “It’s important to get off to a good start and the 3-0 over Ben put me in good stead for the rest of the group. I didn’t really put my cue down. The longest I put it down for was six days. I had a few exhibitions. I’ve hit the ground running. It’s a very good start. Getting through the European Masters and the next stage of this. I am taking it game by game. My game is getting stronger. I just need to relax and calm down and get a bit of confidence. I didn’t have the best of years last year. The world’s saved me.”
Xiao meanwhile had the tough task of toppling reigning champion David Gilbert, Robert Milkins, and Michael White. Welshman White was in the best position early on ,after beating Gilbert 3-1 early doors in a high-quality affair.
Milkins drew with Xiao 2-2 in the second match. The Milkman’s hopes of progression were firmly halted by White though, who was on a mission in a 3-0 victory. White was sitting pretty at the top on six points going into the evening, knowing a point could be enough in his final match of the day against Xiao.
Gilbert’s hopes of retaining the title were ended with Xiao defeating him 3-1 thanks to a deciding 69 in the final frame. With that win, Xiao knew a win over White would see him top the group. White took the opener but it was his last meaningful contribution after Xiao made 78 in the second, 68, and then 32 and 66 to win it 3-1 and move through.
and the table
Again, no interview with Xiao Guodong. Toppling Gilbert was relly no tough task yesterday as he looked out-of-sorts, bored and disinterested righ from the start. He won the last 2 frames on the day, but only after Rob Milkins got the two frames he needed to secure third place in the group. It had been some time since I had watched Xiao play and I was impressed by his tactical nous all day. He wasn’t going to out-pot White or Milkins, but he outfoxed them…
Stuart Bingham is a hard worker, he knows how to win these comps and he proved it again. Group C was a high scoring group. There were 6 centuries on the day, three of them by Jordan Brown… who still finished last in the table.
Today features Group A with Ronnie, Ali Carter, Yuan Sijun, Pang Junxu and Group D Zhao Xintong, Mark Allen, Gary Wilson, Chang Bingyu. Two very tough groups and it’s a shame that they are played on the same day!
Lu came through a group of Mark Williams, Stephen Maguire, and Aaron Hill to book his spot in Friday’s final stage. Williams began the day with a rapid 3-0 win over Hill in one of the quickest matches of the tournament so far. He took just half an hour thanks to breaks of 76, 61 and 133.
Williams set the early pace with that win, but Lu responded by beating Maguire 3-1. Maguire got his own win to end the afternoon session, beating Hill 3-0 to keep the group wide open.
The picture became clear at the top of the evening session, as Lu moved up a gear against Williams. Breaks of 70, 61 and 94 gave him a 3-0 win and left him needing just a draw with Hill to go through. He did just that, sharing the frames to end 2-2 and progress.
Over on Table 2, Lyu battled with Hossein Vafaei, Jimmy Robertson, and Michael Judge to make his way into the next phase. Vafaei started with an impressive 3-0 defeat of Judge, firing in breaks of 117, 89, and 123.
Lyu came into the group as the third seed and battled to a 2-2 draw with Robertson in his opening match. The group was wide open going into the evening and Lyu made sure he would stay in the picture thanks to a 3-0 win over Vafaei.
That victory for Lyu meant he had the group in his hands, as he went head to head with Judge in the penultimate match of the group. Lyu took secured a 3-1 win to top the group.
…
No interview with either winner. They both played very well and, above all, stayed focussed from start to finish. Phil Yates suggested that the Chinese players doing well was to be expected as they didn’t go home and had more time for practice… I’m not sure if Lyu and Lu stayed in the UK all summer, but whatever they did, the UK based players certainly had every opportunity to practice just as much if they so wished.
Here is the table
As you can see, it’s “incomplete”: at this stage, second place earns the player ￡3000, third place ￡2000 and fourth place ￡1000. If someone from Matchroom reads this… you really need to improve your service. Yesterday, at the start of play, Matchroom.live wasn’t working, thoughout the event, there have been many mistakes and missing information in the tables. and this…
Gibraltar… 😂
Both Mark Williams and Hossein Vafaei – the groups “leaders” – started impressively. Then both had a long break, their second match being scheduled in the evening, and I had the feeling that the “intensity” was gone.
The last match in Group E was speed snooker. Mark Williams in particular couldn’t wait to get out of there. I didn’t time it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the last frame lasted less than 5 minutes. Cheeky Willo still “wasted” a few seconds pretending he wanted to play for snookers at the end of the last frame. To say that Maguire looked nonplussed is an understatement.
In Group F, the last match was to decide second and third places and it was contested very seriously. Hossein Vafaei is currently just outside the top 16, he’s 17th, provisionnaly 16th as, as it stands, he is set to overcome Anthony McGill. Jimmy Robertson is 25th. Both are provisionnaly inside the top 16 in the “end-of-season” projection having had a good season last term. Of course it’s very early days but, obviously, every pound will count for both of them this season, and the ￡1000 difference between second and third place mattered to both.
Today we have Group C with Stuart Bingham, Jordan Brown, Jamie Jones, and Ben Woollaston and Group H with David Gilbert, Robert Milkins, Xiao Guodong, Michael White.
This post doesn’t really belong to any of the usual categories… it’s a bit of a bric-à-brac
Today would have been Vic Hartley 91st birthday. Those who had the privilege to know him, work with him and call him a friend will want to remember him. He was a witty, kind and very endearing man. A great referee who passed his knowledge onto countless aspiring referees. I miss Vic. I’m sure I’m not alone …
Happy heavenly birthday Vic!
Yesterday, marked 12 years since Alex Higgins passed away, and as usual there was an outpour of tributes all over the Internet. I didn’t join in. I do understand how important Alex is in the history of snooker, I really do. I know that without him, our sport wouldn’t be where it is now. I know he inspired a whole generation of aspiring snooker players. I do admire his skills at the table. But I can’t admire the person he was. I know that he could be charming and generous when he wanted to, but, fundamentally, he lived most of his life as a selfish, obnoxious, violent and dishonest person. Countless people tried to help him and he just tried to take advantage of them. That’s why there was nothing on this blog about Alex yesterday.
Finally, a completely different topic:
The 2022 World Billiards Championship will be held a RoSSA, Ronnie’s Snooker Academy in Singapore.
We’re excited to take the World Championship to Singapore for the first time and look forward to fantastic, state of the art playing conditions.
The event will be preceded by the Singapore Open Billiards Championship which will be a Level 3 ‘warm-up’ event. The 2022 RoSSA World Billiards Championship, level 6, will follow directly after.
Dates:
November 19th – 20th – Singapore Open Billiards Championship
November 21st – 24th – 2022 RoSSA World Billiards Championship
Both events will be played under the timed match format.
Belgium’s Luca Brecel claimed the third ranking title of his career, defeating China’s Lu Ning 3-1 in final of the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 