Ali Carter Wins Championship League Group 6

The “Captain” has qualified for the final stages of the invitational tournament for the first time since 2018.

Ali Carter is through to the Winners’ Group of the Championship League after triumphing in Group 6 on Saturday in Milton Keynes.

The Englishman topped the round-robin phase with a record of five wins and one defeat alongside Anthony McGill, who he’d eventually meet in the final.

Carter and McGill first overcame Mark Williams and David Gilbert respectively in the last four.

In the subsequent final encounter, McGill established a 2-0 lead only to lose a dramatic third frame on the last black.

That set Carter up for a comeback, and after forcing a decider the 41 year-old rounded off the victory in style with a 111 century break.

It marks the sixth time that Ali Carter has reached the Winners’ Group of the Championship League, with his previous best result a runners-up placing to Martin Gould back in 2013.

The former World Championship finalist joins Zhou Yuelong, Graeme Dott, John Higgins, Judd Trump, and Kyren Wilson in the latter stages.

There is just one more spot available in the line-up, with Group 7 set to take place at the end of next month.

McGill, Williams, Gilbert, and fifth-placed Joe Perry will have the opportunity to compete again if they choose to, although the seven places haven’t yet been confirmed for that group.

Chinese duo Liang Wenbo and Li Hang have definitely been eliminated, though, after placing in the bottom two spots of Group 6.

After temporarily being staged as a ranking event earlier this campaign, this Championship League reverts back to its original non-ranking status with invites to players based on their ranking.

There are various prize-money bonuses on offer for the players, from winning frames, reaching the play-off stages of each group, and for achieving the highest break.

The overall winner will also be rewarded with an invite to the lucrative Champion of Champions at the end of the year.

Live coverage of Championship League Snooker is available throughout this week via several platforms, which you can check here.

Click here to view the 2021 Championship League Snooker draw.

Featured photo credit: @CLSnooker