Stuart Bingham got his 2024 off to a positive start by winning Group 1 of Championship League Snooker on Wednesday.
The former world champion finished third after the round-robin phase, winning four of his six league matches to qualify for the semi-finals.
In the last four, Bingham overcame fellow Englishman Kyren Wilson 3-0 and then repeated that scoreline in the final against Gary Wilson.
There has already been a ranking event version of the Championship League this season, from which Shaun Murphy emerged with the silverware.
But this edition of the Championship League is the original invitational version, which Stuart Bingham won back in 2015.
The 47 year-old now qualifies for the Winners’ Group in March, where seven group winners in total vie for the overall title.
A place in the prestigious Champion of Champions is also on offer for the tournament champion.
The two Wilsons and other semi-finalist Ryan Day, in addition to fifth-placed Chris Wakelin, will have another crack at qualifying for the latter phase when they compete in Group 2.
They will be joined in the competition on Thursday and Friday in Leicester by newcomers Mark Selby, Ali Carter, and Matthew Selt.
Click here to view the full draw (snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
Day made seven centuries in the group, doubling his total for the season.
Such a weird format – where 4 from each group get to take part in the next group – and since they win money per frame won – the smart player won’t want to win the Group – but rather keep qualifying to the next group no ??