Martin Gould won the 2013 Championship League last night at Crondon Park after edging Ali Carter 3-2 in the final.
The Winners Group saw seven players who had already emerged successful in previous qualifying groups com together to fight it out for the main prize.
The round-robin stage was a tight affair with nobody able to dominate and indeed only two points separated the entire field.
Carter and recent PTC Grand Finals champion Ding Junhui topped the standings with four wins from their six encounters with Gould and Marco Fu edging out form player Mark Allen.
Despite all finishing on three points each, Gould and Fu benefited from having won more frames throughout the two-day contest while John Higgins and Barry Hawkins brought up the rear.
So it was England vs Asia for the two semi-finals and both ended up being very one-sided.
Carter whitewashed Fu 3-0 to repeat the victory he completed over the Hong Kong native at the German Masters final earlier this year while Gould recorded a similar success over China’s Ding.
The final was a much more exciting affair, though, as both players traded the first four frames with breaks of 58, 55 and 68 to ensure those watching on the online betting websites would be treated to a decider.
And despite Carter gaining the initial opportunity, Gould responded with an even ton 100 break to claim the spoils and his third trophy of the campaign.
The 31 year-old had already added a PTC event in Gloucester and the Sky Shoot-out to his now growing trophy cabinet.
Traditionally, winning the Championship League was an automatic ticket onto the lucrative Premier League roster but there have been rumours of late that this may now not be the case.
Sky Sports and World Snooker are reputed to be interested in altering the format once again for the annual invitational event and whether or not a place for the CL champion will still be assured his yet to be determined.
For Gould’s case, hopefully it does remain an avenue because it is unlikely he would be able to find another way of gaining an invitation and to play a part in such an event would be a great achievement for the Pinner Potter.
Nevertheless, that is for future reference. For now, Gould will be looking to continue his winning ways at the upcoming China Open in Beijing.
