Neil Robertson safely advanced from his group in Championship League Snooker as the new season got under way in Leicester on Monday.
The Australian compiled a break of 70 but could only share the four frames he initially played against amateur top-up Zack Richardson.
That left him with work to do in his remaining round-robin fixtures against Cheung Ka Wai and Jamie Clarke.
The 42 year-old comfortably beat the former opponent 3-0, Cheung competing in his first tournament as a professional player following his success in this year’s WSF Championship.
Robertson was level on the same number of points with Clarke heading into their crucial showdown against one another.
But despite losing the opening frame to the Welshman, contributions of 93 and 70 saw Robertson top Group 21 with seven points.
The former world champion and world number one has slipped down to as low as number 28 in the rankings after a dismal run of form.
Robertson, for years considered among the most consistent high performers on the baize, only reached one ranking event semi-final during a difficult last campaign.
He will move forward to Stage Two of Championship League Snooker, where the 32 group winners from Stage One will go through another four-player mini league process.
Joining Neil Robertson will be Ryan Day, who similarly progressed with a record of two wins and a draw from Group 11.
The Welshman, a finalist of the invitational version of Championship League Snooker in 2017, got off to a strong start by beating rookie Liam Davies 3-0.
The world no.18 then shared the spoils with Hammad Miah before orchestrating a second 3-0 victory in his last outing against Marco Fu.
In the latter fixture, Day produced his finest sequence of form by compiling successive breaks of 125, 72, and 85.
On Tuesday, the 24-day competition will continue with another two groups from the early phase.
Group 4 will see Mark Williams entertain David Grace, Fergal Quinn, and Connor Benzey.
In Group 17, Chris Wakelin will be the favourite against Ian Burns, Liam Pullen, and Rory McLeod.
Championship League Snooker
Stage One Draw
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
| Scott Donaldson | He Guoqiang | Shaun Murphy | Mark Williams |
| Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 | Group 8 |
| Ali Carter | Gary Wilson | Robbie McGuigan | Jak Jones |
| Group 9 | Group 10 | Group 11 | Group 12 |
| Ma Hailong | Jackson Page | Ryan Day | Jack Lisowski |
| Group 13 | Group 14 | Group 15 | Group 16 |
| Si Jiahui | Hossein Vafaei | David Gilbert | Fan Zhengyi |
| Group 17 | Group 18 | Group 19 | Group 20 |
| Chris Wakelin | Stuart Bingham | Long Zehuang | Stuart Carrington |
| Group 21 | Group 22 | Group 23 | Group 24 |
| Neil Robertson | Joe O’Connor | Michael White | Martin O’Donnell |
| Group 25 | Group 26 | Group 27 | Group 28 |
| Matthew Stevens | Alexander Ursenbacher | David Lilley | Wu Yize |
| Group 29 | Group 30 | Group 31 | Group 32 |
| Ben Woollaston | Jamie Jones | Ashley Carty | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh |
Stage Two
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Scott Donaldson | David Gilbert | Long Zehuang | Mark Williams |
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
| Ali Carter | David Lilley | Jackson Page | Martin O’Donnell |
Stage Three
| Final Group 1 | Final Group 2 |
| Ali Carter | Jackson Page |
Final (bo5)
Ali Carter 3-1 Jackson Page
Featured photo credit: WST
