Yan Bingtao has qualified for the Winners’ Group of the Championship League after emerging triumphantly from Group 6 on Tuesday in Leicester.
The former Masters champion topped the round-robin stage with five wins from his six encounters and subsequently carried that form through to the knockout phase.
In the semi-finals, Yan overcame Kyren Wilson 3-0 with breaks of 83 and 55 before adding additional runs of 94, 65, and 63 in a 3-1 final defeat of Martin Gould.
Yan joins Liang Wenbo, Graeme Dott, Zhou Yuelong, Stuart Bingham, and Scott Donaldson in the Championship League Winners’ Group that takes place next month at the Morningside Arena.
Only one more spot is up for grabs in the competition’s finale, with Gould, Wilson, Ding Junhui, and Ali Carter all getting another crack at qualification when they partake in Group 7 in early February.
Heavy hitters Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, and recent Masters champion Neil Robertson will be the newcomers entering the fray.
Matthew Selt and reigning Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown have been eliminated, however, after finishing bottom of Group 6.
This is the second edition of the Championship League being played this season, with the format reverting back to its original non-ranking guise.
David Gilbert won the first Championship League of the campaign back in August when it was staged as a ranking event while incorporating a different format.
Featured photo credit: WST
