Here is the report by WST on the 2025 ranking CLS groups 10 and 23, played in Leicester yesterday.
Mertens and Craigie Into Second Stage
Ben Mertens reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the fifth time in his career by topping Group 10 at BetVictor Championship League in Leicester.
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Mertens and Group 23 winner Sam Craigie progress to the second stage which gets underway on July 18th.
Belgium’s 20-year-old Mertens scored heavily throughout the day to earn top spot. He opened with a 3-0 win over Jonas Luz, highlighted by a break of 131 in the third frame. He then drew 2-2 with Alfie Davies, helped by runs of 130 and 131. In the last match of the group he faced Jak Jones, who also had a win and a draw under his belt. Mertens eased to a 3-0 success with breaks of 64, 59 and 76.
Craigie is back in action after missing a whole season with a neck injury, but won his British Open qualifying match last month and followed up today by battling through a tight group. After beating Jimmy Robertson 3-0 with a top run of 79, he drew 2-2 with Mark Davis with a top break of 101. Craigie then let slip a 2-0 lead and drew 2-2 with Connor Benzey, which left the group wide open as Robertson and Davis met in the last match. Both needed to win to top the table, but their 2-2 draw meant Craigie was just ahead of Davis on frame difference.
Earlier in this competition, I reflected how Julien Leclercq looked dispirited and out of form. Despite the fact that I’m not at all into “nationalist fandom” in any sport, it saddens me. I want mainland Europe to be better represented on tour so that WST eventually feels forced to break away from their UK centric organisation. Ben, fortunately, seems to continue to thrive and progress. He played well yesterday.
Jonas Luz on the other hand is very “far ” from the level required to survive on tour. I know that some of these invitational tour cards are part of WST “international” strategy1 but what’s the point? Some of these guys will spend two years in the UK, more often than not playing qualifiers in soulless venues, with next to nobody watching, homesick and lonely. I know that WPBSA offers services to support players who struggle with mental health, which is good, but … how does it work for those who have only a basic command of the English language?
“What’s your solution?” you will ask me. To be honest I don’t have one. Snooker isn’t big enough to offer adequate structures for aspiring young in every country in the world, I’m afraid. What I believe though is that a global ELO system covering all levels and all national/regional federations would help players and snooker sporting bodies to understand exactly where they stand. And, if WPBSA, wants to help talented players from regions where the sport needs developing, why not offer some carefully selected “talents” a year paid scholarship, with a personalised but strict training program, including international amateur competitions, before “throwing” them into the gladiatorial arena called “Main Tour”?
- or pretence? ↩︎
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
The ‘solution’ is to abolish the Tour Card approach. Players like Jonas Luz could play in some professional events, as American Champion, but not necessarily ALL events. That is why an incremental ranking system is needed – to allow players to play in selected events without damaging their ranking too much. It would also help to keep older players, like Ronnie, in the game for longer. We’re already seeing the cracks with the extremely poor turnout of top players for this Summer Championship League. I heard Xiao Guodong say in one of his World Championship broadcasts that he didn’t intend to return to the UK until September.
Ultimately, standards in Brazil will rise, but it’s tough on players like Jonas Luz, Igor Figueiredo, Itaro Santos, etc. to do the hard yards and get paid almost nothing. There were actually Chinese players on tour before Ding Junhui. Most of them returned, became coaches and passed on their experiences to the next generation.