Ali Carter won the third Championship League group on Tuesday, beating Mark Davis 3-1 in the final.
In doing so, the Englishman books his place in the Winners Group next month in which the overall champion will be invited to play in the lucrative Champion of Champions later in the year.
Carter qualified for the semi-finals of Group 3 after winning three out of his six league encounters to finish in third place out of the usual seven competitors.
He joined Stuart Bingham in the last four, who he overcame 3-0 with a high break 110, and Ryan Day, who had finished the round-robin as top seed but was defeated 3-1 by Davis.
In the final, Davis won the opening frame with a break of 52 before runs of 129 and 55 ensured that the ‘Captain’ grasped control.
The 35 year-old then sealed the victory in the subsequent frame for what will surely be a morale-boosting triumph as he continues his return to the sport following a successful battle against lung cancer.
Former world champion Peter Ebdon finished fifth in the group and joins Davis, Day and Bingham in Group 4, which starts today.
They’ll be joined by three newcomers in Matthew Stevens, Michael White and David Gilbert.
Defending champion Judd Trump and 2010 winner Marco Fu were dumped out of the competition after finishing sixth and seventh.
