Michael Holt was a late replacement for Ronnie who withdrew and made the most of his opportunity as he won Group 1 yesterday. Noppon Saengkham was the highest ranked player in his group and duly won it.

Here is the report shared by WST

Holt And Saengkham Make Winners’ Week

Michael Holt and Noppon Saengkham progressed to Winners’ Week of the BetVictor Championship League Snooker – Ranking Edition at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

Holt was the first of the day to make it into the second phase, following victories over Scott Donaldson and Alfie Burden in group one. The Hitman ended tied on six points with Burden, but edged him out on frames won. Nottingham’s Holt deposed Londoner Burden by beating him in his last match of the group, earning a 3-0 whitewash victory

Saengkham and Mark Davis contested an exhilarating final match in group 19 for a return to Leicester next week. Saengkham had won both of his previous games – against Ross Muir and Jenson Kendrick. Davis secured a 3-0 victory over Kendrick, but drew 2-2 with Muir – leaving a deficit of two points to Saengkham at the top of the table. Only a victory for Davis would see him progress.

With Davis leading 2-1, the match came down to the final black. Both players spurned chances, but it was Saengkham who eventually deposited the black to ensure the match ended 2-2.

Judd Trump and Jimmy White take centre stage on Tuesday, 11 July, in a fascinating Group 2 with Xu Si and Reanne Evans live on Viaplay Xtra in the UK and Ireland. Table 2 action is available worldwide on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube where Group 18 sees Joe Perry, Jamie Clarke, Andy Lee and Stuart Carrington fight for a place in the second stage.

Michael Holt has always been a very emotional type of person and I believe this has been his undoing more than once in his career, and notably at the Q-School. He should be on tour: he has the talent, ability and technique to succeed. But overwhelming emotions have been his undoing. It’s not by chance that the only ranking event he won is the Shoot-out … you don’t have time to think and dwell on bad shots or bad luck, you just need to act on instinct.

Mark Davis remains a very good player and maybe, this season, he will be able to show more of his abilities. He should have been relegated; he was saved by the wave of players’ suspensions that hit the tour last season. He knows it and somehow this may give him more “freedom”. He played well yesterday, as did Noppon Saengkham.

I switched a lot between the to tables yesterday. I didn’t like Phil Yates commentary on table 1. He was extremely harsh on Jenson Kendrick, not just once but on almost every shot he played. Now, there is no denial that Jenson was poor, and he is yet to win a match since turning pro. But what I saw yesterday, was a young man, extremely nervous, anxious trying too hard and unable to think clearly. Jenson is young father: his daughter was born in the first week of May. The arrival of a first child usually brings a lot of joy, but it’s also stressful, added responsibilities … and sleepless nights. Phil , please … the players are human beings, it wasn’t necessary, nor helpful to be so harsh.

… meanwhile there are IBSF championships under way

In the under-17 event Liam Davies will face Riley Powell for the title. The trophy will go to Wales … that much is certain. You can follow the various IBSF events here.

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.

Yesterday at the 2023 ranking CLS we saw Chinese players shine…

Here is the report by WST:

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..

Here is what happened yesterday in Leicester

Zhou And Jones Make Winners’ Week

Zhou Yuelong and Jak Jones earned their places in the second phase of the BetVictor Championship League ranking event in Leicester, topping their respective groups.

Click here for the results and schedule

In group 17, China’s Zhou began with a 3-0 whitewash victory over Scottish amateur Chris Totten, rounding the win off with a century run of 105 in the third. However, the three-time ranking event finalist’s progression was put under threat after he suffered 3-0 reverse against Oliver Brown in his second match.

Brown was defeated 3-1 by Ashley Hugill and drew 2-2 with Totten. That was enough for him to secure second place and meant that a win for Zhou in his final match against Hugill would see him top the group. Zhou obliged with breaks of 77, 75 and 50 to run out a 3-0 victor.

Welshman Jones ended last season superbly with a run to the quarter-finals of the World Championship on his Crucible debut. He continued to impress in group 26, but was held to a 2-2 draw in his opening match against Dean Young. He followed that up with a 3-0 whitewash win over Rebecca Kenna to set up a group decider against Jamie Jones. It was Jak Jones who prevailed 3-1 to top the group and make the next stage.

I’m not sure who writes those reports but they should do better …

“Welshman Jones ended last season superbly …”. Which Jones? There were two of them, both Welsh, Jak and Jamie. Of course given the context you understand it’s Jak but is typing those three letters to make the text more easily understandable too much to ask?

Anyway… yesterday wasn’t the best day for me, with all sorts of (minor) inconveniences and power cuts. I did see only bits and pieces of the action. What I did see though was Bex Kenna coming back from 2-0 down to force a draw against Dean Young. She hadn’t won a frame all day, and Dean didn’t gift it to her as the draw meant that he would finish third whilst a win would have given him a second place. It made no material difference for Bex, she would be last in the group no matter the outcome, but it made a 1000 pounds and ranking points difference for Dean. Bex nevertheless tried her best to the very end, and played for pride. Well done!

Today we have Ali Carter, Jackson Page, Long Zehuang and Ryan Davies on table 1, Wu Yize, Pang Junxu, Hammad Miah and Stan Moody on table 2.

In other bad news … this

Shame on you WST. This is the second most important tournament of the season. If it’s played with the same tiered format as last year, only 32 players will be at the main venue. All the others will compete in front of nobody, with no support, no atmosphere, no or little exposure. This will impact their opportunities to find a sponsor. This is dispiriting and another clear sign that snooker is NOT in a good place. No wonder more and more players look at other cue sports for opportunities. And we shouldn’t be surprised, nor should we blame the top boys who are nearing their 50th to give priority to lucrative exhibition events.

And about players looking at other cue sports… this conversation came up on twitter

Brendan has been a top referee in snooker for many years, but has now turned to pool…