The pair rounded off week one at the Morningside Arena.
Mark Davis and Chang Bingyu topped their respective Championship League Snooker groups on Friday in Leicester.
Veteran player Davis squeezed through to Stage Two of the competition by edging out Yuan Sijun on frame difference in Group 12.
Heading into their final round of league fixtures on the same number of points and the same frame difference having drawn against each other and won their opening matches with 3-0 scorelines, their objective of having to beat the other’s score was clear.
Despite Yuan winning his last encounter against Billy Castle 3-1, it ultimately proved just shy of the mark as Davis completed a 3-0 victory against Anthony McGill to progress to the next phase of the Championship League in August.
China’s Chang, meanwhile, finished in first place in Group 31 after seeing off the challenges of compatriot Pang Junxu, former Championship League winner Luce Brecel, and main tour rookie Dean Young.
There are still ten more groups to be played in Stage One, and the action continues on Monday with Group 14 involving Martin Gould, Ken Doherty, Rory McLeod, and amateur Ryan Davies.
Group 13 also takes place with Oliver Lines, Peter Devlin, Luke Pinches, and Joshua Thomond in line to enter the fray.
💪 “I’ll get back to the practice table and I’m just glad to be back again for this one!”
Mark Davis knows he has work to do between now and the next stage of #ChampionshipLeagueSnooker – but he looked pretty good to us! pic.twitter.com/cD6T9UF1dw
— BetVictor Championship League Snooker (@CLSnooker) July 23, 2021
What is the Championship League?
The Championship League has been on the calendar in some way, shape, or form since 2008, but it’s only in the last couple of years that it has been intermittently staged as a ranking event.
On this occasion, there are three stages to the month-long competition with 128 players initially split into 32 round-robin groups comprising four players in each.
The 32 group winners advance to Stage Two, before the next eight group winners determine the competitors who feature in Stage Three, with all matches lasting just four frames.
The two players who win their third and final groups will subsequently contest the outright final, with the winner set to earn £33,000 from the total prize fund.
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Where to Watch the Championship League
There will be two tables available to watch on each day of the group stages, with the snooker available across Ireland and the UK on FreeSports in addition to the Matchroom.Live’s snooker streaming service.
There are various other TV broadcast options around the world, which you can view by clicking here.
Click here to view the full draw (Times: CET)