Mark Williams denied amateur Connor Benzey in a close finish to emerge as the winner of Group 4 as Championship League Snooker continued on Tuesday.
The Welshman could only draw with the top-up amateur competitor, breaks of 90 and 99 denying the Englishman a career-best victory.
Both Williams and Benzey proceeded to take maximum points from their remaining two fixtures.
That left the pair tied on seven points from a possible nine after the round-robin schedule.
However, whereas Benzey managed to orchestrate successive 3-1 defeats over David Grace and Fergal Quinn, Williams crucially avoided losing another frame against the same opponents.
That provided last year’s runner-up with a superior frame difference, allowing him to progress to Stage Two of the 2024/25 snooker season’s opening ranking event.
“It was not bad,” Mark Williams, who compiled a 115 century break in his last match against Grace, said afterwards.
“I’ve had a couple of exhibitions, but I haven’t touched my cue. I haven’t practiced or nothing.”
“I went for everything. It was all-out attack today, whether they went in or not.
“A lot of them went in, there were a few good breaks, and every match was over pretty quick.
“The only safety shots I played were the break-offs. I went for absolutely everything, and I wasn’t going to turn nothing down.
“In and out as fast as I can. Hopefully win, but if not, out as fast as I can.”
It was arguably even more dramatic in Group 17, which almost went down to the very final frame between Chris Wakelin and Ian Burns.
Wakelin conjured back-to-back whitewash wins over Rory McLeod and Liam Pullen to gain control at the top.
Yet Burns remained within striking distance of his fellow Englishman by beating Pullen and drawing with McLeod.
Success for Burns over Wakelin would have taken the 39 year-old through at the expense of the former Shoot Out champion.
It looked promising when he took the opening frame with a break of 87, but Wakelin responded by winning the next two frames to secure the valuable point he required.
On Wednesday, Championship League Snooker continues with Groups 25 and 31.
In the latter, Elliot Slessor is the highest ranked contender and will be challenged by Ashley Carty, Mostafa Dorgham, and Simon Blackwell.
In Group 25, Robbie Williams will be in action against Matthew Stevens, Farakh Ajaib, and rookie Haydon Pinhey.
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
