Graeme Dott claimed a spot in the Winners’ Group of the Championship League after winning Group 2 on Thursday at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
The Scot boasted a 100% round-robin record from Group 1 earlier in the week but failed to move any further in the knockout stage.
On this occasion the situation was reversed, with Dott only just squeezing through to the semi-finals in fourth place with a 3-3 win-loss record.
A Championship League runner-up in 2020, Dott made the most of his chance this time by subsequently beating Ryan Day 3-2 in the last four and Lu Ning 3-1 in the Group 2 final.
The former world champion joins Liang Wenbo in the Winners’ Group after the Chinese competitor earned his spot from Group 1 earlier in the week.
Five more places are up for grabs, with the action set to continue in the competition at the start of the new year in 2022.
Lu, Day, Joe Perry, and Xiao Guodong will all have another opportunity in Group 3 in January, with heavy-hitters Mark Selby, Mark Williams, and Stuart Bingham set to enter the fray also.
While there was already an edition of the Championship League this season – a ranking event won by David Gilbert – this version reverts back to the more traditional invitational guise of the tournament.
Seven groups comprise seven players in each, with each group winner progressing to a final Winners’ Group to determine the champion in February.
Click here to view the Group 2 draw
Featured photo credit: WST
