Things ran more smoothly yesterday at the 2023 ranking Championship league snooker. No defections, no delays , the panels now showing “ranking” and no more “invitational” … but still no live scores either!
Here is the report shared by WST:
O’Donnell And Wakelin Reach Second Phase
Martin O’Donnell marked his return to the World Snooker Tour by qualifying for the second stage of the BetVictor Championship League Snooker – Ranking Edition at the Morningside Arena in Leicester on Tuesday.
Click here for the tables and schedule
O’Donnell, 37, was relegated from the professional circuit at the end of the 2021/22 season but earned a new two-year card by topping the Q Tour rankings earlier this year.
He opened his account in Group 11 with a 3-0 defeat of Cork’s Aaron Hill, completed with breaks of 61 and 93. O’Donnell trailed Iranian Hossein Vafaei 1-0 in his second match but potted an excellent long black to win frame two and made an 85 break in the third before the Iranian salvaged a draw.
That left O’Donnell on four points and safe in the knowledge that victory over Northern Irish amateur Fergal Quinn would guarantee him top spot in the group. With O’Donnell leading 2-1, a nervy fourth frame came down to the colours. Quinn attempted a long blue but missed and O’Donnell potted blue and pink for victory.
“I wasn’t sure how I was going to go today but I was excited to be back on the tour and it was a good day’s work,” said O’Donnell. “I just want to enjoy my snooker. When I fell off the tour I wasn’t enjoying it and everything was a pint of blood. I can’t play snooker like that, I don’t want to play snooker like that and I’m not going to play snooker like that any more. It doesn’t mean I won’t try out there, but the year off has given me a bit of perspective.”
Vafaei, ranked 18 in the world, was the top seed in the group but suffered a shock 3-1 defeat to Quinn in his opening match. However, he ended on a high by beating Hill 3-1, with a 120 break in the last frame, to finish in second place.
Chris Wakelin, who won the BetVictor Shoot Out title at the Morningside Arena last season, was confirmed as the winner of Group 21 before playing his last match.
Wakelin, the world number 31, hit the ground running, compiling breaks of 60 and 85 on the way to a 3-0 victory over Liam Pullen, a 17-year-old making his professional debut having qualified through Q School last month.
Wakelin encountered more stubborn opposition in his second match against Ukraine’s Anton Kazakov. The average frame time was 39 minutes but Wakelin ground out a 3-1 victory to maintain his 100% record.
It meant he could not be caught at the top of the table. Oliver Lines beat him 3-0 in the last match of the day to finish second.
O’Donnell and Wakelin will return to Leicester next month for the second stage, with the field reduced to 32 players.
Congratulations to Martin and Chris.
This is the program for today
Meanwhile things are moving in Asia.
Here are a few announcements by Sinosport on twitter
Five of the players are currently in Macau to promote the event
Of course Christmas is a family time and some fans raised doubts about player’s actual commitment … bur apparently the organisers are determined to make it happen
According to Willo on twitter there is 100K for the winner …
There is also another announcement involving Ding.
Il still find it interesting that Ding wants to promote a snooker fashion night. I wouldn’t be against (re-)introducing some fantasy and glamour in the snooker outfits.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
lol four of them having exhibition in Shanghai at 30June. 0_0
even that is only a two hour flight, they are using every minute of it!
Also: Liam Pullen won his first match as a pro. So, here’s to him!
Having also fought Lines to a draw (a feat also achieved by Kazakov), Pullen was denied second place in the group because Wakelin apparently handed the last match to Lines, gift-wrapped. I know, they call this a “dead match”. From the perspective of any fan who paid to watch that match, and from Pullen’s, it should be clear it was not. If it happened as I perceive it, the only thing dead, I suspect, was Wakelin’s professional commitment to his sport.
Also disappointing was Vafaei. He seems to have arrived cold, resulting in his so-called “shock” defeat to Quinn. Something similar seems to have been the case with Dott (the day before), who, for the second year in a row, headlined “Group 30”, and crashed out with two losses to second or third rate players.
That’s the snooker “big boys” seemingly not taking their sport all that seriously. That said, would it really be that much of a surprise if snooker were to lose fans to, say, “Joy”? Pool?
I fear, at this time, I can’t work up much interest for the celebrity shows in Macau. I rather find myself rooting for the (more or less) new talent, their still raw ambition, and hoping for their continuing improvement. If there is a future for snooker, I can’t wait for them to conquer it.
Regardless of how much preparation, the first match of a season can always go wrong for any player.
The issue of ‘dead matches’ and ‘semi-dead matches’ (which matter to one player but not the other) is something I have raised. But yet again, nobody is prepared to spend even a minute thinking about it. Yesterday both groups were decided before the final match, which is poor from an entertainment viewpoint, even without the fairness issues.
So I guess. Yet, in addition to the foregoing cases, we’ve seen Alfie Davies beating Joe O’Connor, and Ryan Day not getting more than a draw out of young Jiang Jun. To me that “start-of-the-season match gone wrong” mishap starts to look like a pattern that scurrilously befalls the groups’ top dogs at an astonishing rate, no?
My point, the one I’ve tried to make… the issue of dead matches shouldn’t matter, also not from an entertainment PoV, if both players plainly played snooker at or near the top of their capabilities – not necessarily to “win”, but just to honor, and out of love to, their sport. Anyone who can’t savor that … I don’t even know what to say. Anyway, that’s probably just me.
It is very difficult for me and I suppose for players themselves to work up any enthusiasm for this kind of tournament as the Championship League. maybe it is important for rookies on the Tour, but it is certainly not too important and is t a very bad time in late June/early July to be used as a warmup for upcoming tournaments. And I’m with you Grump about the Macau celebrity show insofar as I don’t seem to work up any interest. And I do simply love the traditional snooker outfit and don’t feel interested in any colourful addition. But I keep chickling at Maguire playing “Joy” pool, because whatever it is, I find it surreal to mention Maguire and joy in he same sentence. 🙂
I find that’s both correct and very important. It’s a valuable opportunity for the less experienced to gain some valuable experience, and with players at vastly different levels. They are the future of snooker, and all should get together to provide them with the best introductory experience that is to be had. That’s sportsmanship, and that’s what sportsmanship requires – not just touting that horn every chance they get, but the snooker community caring for their own. That’s why I kind of resent those not showing up at all, and even more those who behave as if they arrived to collect a participation fee and to bow out at the first opportunity.
Oh, and… as long as they play proper snooker, I am perfectly fine with sneakers and t-shirt. I would barely notice anyway.