Yesterday at the 2023 ranking CLS we saw Chinese players shine…
Pang And Long Secure Top Spots
Pang Junxu and Long Zehuang topped their respective groups at the BetVictor Championship League – Ranking event at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
Coming through the CBSA China Tour, Long settled into life on the professional circuit well, with victory over the five-time ranking event winner Ali Carter and a draw against Jackson Page to start strongly in group 7.
Page’s second match saw him secure three points against Ryan Davies, meaning he had to beat Carter 3-0 in his final match to overcome Long, who beat Davies 3-0. Page could only manage a 2-2 draw with Carter and finished second in the group.
Group 24 promised to deliver plenty with the likes of Pang, Wu Yize, Stan Moody, and Hammad Miah all vying for a spot in Winners’ Week.
China’s Pang stepped up in his opening match to quickly dispatch Moody 3-0. He continued on that trajectory with a win against Miah and set up a group decider against compatriot Wu to close out the evening session. Pang ended the day with three wins from three, defeating Wu 3-1 in the final match.
Robert Milkins enters in Group 8 tomorrow alongside Dominic Dale, Muhammad Asif, and Alex Taubman, whilst Fan Zhengyi, Sam Craigie, Fergal O’Brien, and Ahmed Elsayed line-up in Group 23.
Pang winning his group, with Wu coming second is exactly what I expected. Just as I expected Moody to achieve very little. It’s only normal, he’s very young, very “green” and it’s a huge step up to go from the amateur to the pro game. I now hope that the expectations about young Stan will be brought down to a realistic level so that he can develop without unneeded extra pressure.
Long really impressed me. It took him two frames to get used to the conditions. After that he was just dominant. It was his first day competing as a pro and he won his group in style.
Ali Carter struggled all day. He was not amused and made it clear for all to see … much to the amusement of a certain commentator and a few fans..
To give Ali Carter credit, he did at least try in his final match. Being unable to win the group, some players wouldn’t have cared and lost 3-0, handing the group to Jackson Page. I have seen that happen in the Summer Champhionship Leagues a few times.
Long Zehuang is a 26-year old from Shanghai.. He was part of the same generation as Zhao Xintong et al – extremely talented players. Long wasn’t on the radar, and at that time was mainly considered a Chinese Pool specialist. His experience competing (and winning) in other cue sports means he’s a very solid and tough competitor, with an excellent match-temperament. He did well in Q School a few years ago, so he’s not completely new. I expect him to do a good job on tour, if not spectacular.