Si Jiahui and James Cahill emerged the winners of their respective group yesterday in Leicester.

Here is the report by WST:

Si Starts Season Strongly

Si Jiahui and James Cahill progressed to Winners’ Week at the BetVictor Championship League Snooker – Ranking Edition at the Morningside Arena, Leicester ….

China’s Si, who showed his potential at the World Championship by reaching the semi-finals, opened the day with a 3-1 win over Haydon Pinhey, before a 2-2 draw with Mohamed Ibrahim. Meanwhile, Mark Joyce also drew 2-2 with Ibrahim then beat Pinhey 3-0, which meant he only needed a draw in the last match of the day. But Si dominated that crunch contest, winning 3-0 to seal top spot in Group 25.

Cahill’s progression in Group 20 was far from straightforward as the Blackpool cueist beat Andres Petrov 3-0 but then lost by the same scoreline to Sydney Wilson. Matthew Selt beat Petrov and Wilson 3-0 which meant he needed only one more frame in his last match. But Cahill ground out an impressive 3-0 success to snatch top spot from Selt.

Cahill said: “I am just glad to get through. I’ve got a new cue, my coach told me to change it. There are certain shots I am still learning and trying to find some confidence with. You line up and then you see a potting angle but it doesn’t always pay off. It’s the case of playing some more matches and getting used to the cue a bit more.”

Si Jiahui didn’t play anywhere near his best and the commentators were babbling all day long about it … “He’s not playing like he did to reach the SFs at the Crucible”. Frankly, is that surprising? Don’t you think the young man wanted and deserved a break after that great run at the World Championship? Like many others, he wasn’t sharp, he probably didn’t practice that much ahead of this event. He still won his group. So?

One player who surprised me in a good way is Mohamed Ibrahim. He finished third in the group, but he finished undefeated and showed some really good things. Snooker in Africa is progressing, cue sports in general are progressing. It was clear for all to see at this year African championship. Of course, at the moment it’s mainly Egypt and Morocco. And what was also agreeably surprising was how much support the women received both from fellow male players and fans. There were no disparaging comments in the chats, only support and appreciation for good shots. Remember that we are speaking about countries where Islam is the dominant spiritual influence.

Only just this week-end the first ever Ultimate Pool Women’s World Team Shootout was played in Morocco. The Moroccan ladies beat the much fancied France in the final … here it is on YouTube

You can feel the enthusiasm and the joy … players and spectators equally passionated.

This is something I don’t feel in snooker at the moment and it’s a crying shame. And maybe this is also one of the reasons why so many snooker players seem to be tempted by various forms of pool in recent months.