Ricky Walden and Matthew Selt each superior to the final eight of Championship League Snooker by topping tight teams in Stage Two on Monday.
Walden was the one contender in Group E on the Mattioli Area to complete his trio of round-robin fixtures with an undefeated report.
The Englishman, who’s chasing a fourth profession rating crown, beat former Championship League Snooker winner David Gilbert in his first bout of the day.
A 2-2 draw with Chris Wakelin adopted to arrange a winner-takes-all tie with Liu Hongyu who had orchestrated an analogous report in opposition to the identical opponents.
A draw would have been sufficient for both had additionally they boasted the best break, nevertheless it didn’t matter as Walden scored a 3-1 victory to advance on seven factors.
With world quantity 16 Wakelin putting final and being dumped out of the match, it means there are not any members from the highest 16 of the rankings left within the working this yr.
Selt, in the meantime, prevailed in Group F with a report of two wins and one draw as effectively.
The previous Indian Open champion drew 2-2 with Liam Davies in his first outing in Leicester, and he ended up sharing the identical variety of league factors because the Welshman by the top of play.
However Selt’s 3-0 defeat of Stuart Bingham bettered Davies’ 3-1 conquer the identical opponent, which finally proved vital in figuring out their respective body variations.
Ricky Walden and Matthew Selt be part of Stephen Maguire, Pang Junxu, Joe O’Connor, and Xu Si in Stage Three that takes place on Wednesday.
Earlier than that, the remaining two teams from Stage Two will likely be performed on Tuesday on the Mattioli Area.
The best-ranked competitor in Group G is world quantity 70 Ben Mertens, who will go up in opposition to Sam Craigie, Amir Sarkhosh, and Yao Pengcheng.
There may be significantly extra established firepower in Group H, with Wu Yize up in opposition to Matthew Stevens, Tom Ford, and Liu Wenwei.
Championship League Snooker represents the opening rating occasion of the fledgling 2025/26 snooker season.
The general winner on July twenty third will take dwelling £33,000 price of prize cash and rating factors, plus a ticket to the profitable Champion of Champions invitational later this yr.
Stay protection is obtainable for Eire and UK viewers on the Matchroom Multi Sport and Matchroom Pool YouTube channels.
Monday’s Outcomes
Group E
Chris Wakelin 2-2 Liu Hongyu
Ricky Walden 3-1 David Gilbert
Liu Hongyu 3-1 David Gilbert
Chris Wakelin 2-2 Ricky Walden
Ricky Walden 3-1 Liu Hongyu
David Gilbert 3-0 Chris Wakelin
Desk
1. Ricky Walden – 7 factors
2. Liu Hongyu – 4 factors
3. David Gilbert – 3 factors
4. Chris Wakelin – 2 factors
Group F
Stuart Bingham 2-2 Dylan Emery
Matthew Selt 2-2 Liam Davies
Matthew Selt 3-1 Dylan Emery
Liam Davies 3-1 Stuart Bingham
Liam Davies 3-1 Dylan Emery
Matthew Selt 3-0 Stuart Bingham
Desk
1. Matthew Selt – 7 factors
2. Liam Davies – 7 factors
3. Dylan Emery – 1 level
4. Stuart Bingham – 1 level
Featured photograph credit score: WST
