Here is WST account on what happened yesterday in Leicester, with group 5 and group 16 in action. all the detailed results are available on snooker.org, just follow the links.

Wakelin Clinches Top Spot

World number 16 Chris Wakelin booked his place in the second stage of the BetVictor Championship League ranking event by topping Group 5, while former Scottish Open and World Open finalist Joe O’Connor prevailed in Group 16 on home turf in Leicester. 

Wakelin ended last season on a high by making the quarter-finals of the World Championship, but endured a rocky start to his current campaign after losing 5-3 against Marco Fu in Wuhan Open qualifying. He opened today with a 136 during a 3-1 win over Daniel Womersley, followed by a 3-0 win against Mitchell Mann. Wakelin moved 2-0 up on Belgium’s Julien Leclercq and despite slipping to a 2-2 draw, it was enough to see him through. 

O’Connor enjoyed a near flawless day, scoring 3-0 wins against Liam Pullen and Zak Surety and a 3-1 defeat of Andrew Pagett, where he top scored with 116. 

I watched Group 5. Julien Leclercq is a very heavy scorer, yesterday he made a break over 50 in every frame he won bar one¹. He’s very entertaining to watch but to progress on tour he needs to cut out silly mistakes and improve in the safety department, and, maybe, slightly rein his attacking instincts. Only slightly. It would be a shame if he turned into a grinder … not that Julien’s “grinderisation” appears as likely prospect 😂

1. Shame on him! That frame was a let down! ↩︎