The experienced Englishmen comfortably moved beyond the opening phase of the new competition.
Former ranking event winners Barry Hawkins and Ricky Walden topped Group D of the WST Pro Series with relative ease on Friday in Milton Keynes.
The pair both recorded a 6-1 win-loss record to finish the round-robin on 18 points, six ahead of Jimmy Robertson in third place.
Walden boasted a 100% record until his last match with Hawkins, but defeat to the former World Championship runner-up prevented him from taking top spot in their Pro Series group.
With Hawkins collecting the £4,000 winner’s cheque, the 41 year-old has strengthened his chances of qualifying for the lucrative Tour Championship later this month.
Robertson, Gerard Greene, and Alexander Ursenbacher were among the others in the group who have been eliminated from the tournament.
What is the WST Pro Series?
The format for the WST Pro Series is quite similar to that which was utilised for two out of the three editions of the Championship League that were staged during 2020.
There are 16 groups comprising eight players in each, with a round-robin phase determining the top two who will advance to the second group stage.
Eight groups in the first stage already took place in January, while the outcome from the remaining eight groups will be determined over the coming days.
Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson, Stuart Bingham, and Jack Lisowski are among the bigger names who have already made it through.
The 32 players who progress to stage two will be split into four more groups of eight, with the top two again moving forward from each to contest the final group.
That remaining set of eight players will subsequently battle it out in the same fashion to become the overall champion.
There is a total tournament prize fund of £420,500, broken down in various ways throughout the three group stages.
The winner, however, stands to collect at least £30,000 in an event that incorporates a sprint best-of-three frames format throughout.
What’s Next?
On Saturday, Group P takes place with Mark Williams, Robert Milkins, Nigel Bond, Robbie Williams, Gao Yang, Florian Nüßle, Alex Clenshaw, and Oliver Brown involved.
Live coverage will be available via an account with several online bookmakers, as well as around the world through the Matchroom.Live streaming service.
Click here to view the full draw (Times in CET)
