Matthew Stevens moved into Stage Two of Championship League Snooker by topping Group 25 on Wednesday in Leicester.
The Welshman compiled a break of 66 to wrap up a 3-0 victory over Haydon Pinhey in his initial round-robin affair, the latter playing in his first match as a professional player.
Stevens subsequently looked set to maintain his 100% record but missed a tricky final black against Farakh Ajaib, with the Pakistan player duly sinking it to draw the game 2-2.
That left both Stevens and Ajaib on four points each at the top of the group heading into the third and last round of fixtures.
Ajaib’s challenge quickly faded, however, with a 3-0 reverse against Pinhey, leaving the door ajar for Stevens to power through.
The former UK and Masters champion needed only a point to prevail but took all three, beating the higher seed Robbie Williams 3-1 with contributions of 97, 91, and 59.
Ashley Carty, meanwhile, became the first competitor of the week to go undefeated while holding a perfect record of three wins from three outings.
The Englishman lost only a single frame as he dominated Group 31 at the Mattioli Arena.
Carty began with 3-0 triumph over Mostafa Dorgham and followed it up with a 3-1 defeat of amateur top-up Simon Blackwell.
Final opponent Elliot Slessor had also recorded two wins up until this point against the same opposition, but Carty controlled their crucial winner-takes-all tie with runs of 81, 59, and 53.
On Thursday, Championship League Snooker continues with two more Stage One groups in what is the 2024/25 season’s opening ranking event.
Former world number two Stephen Maguire fronts Group 23 against Michael White, Dean Young, and Ryan Davies.
In Group 22, Joe O’Connor will encounter Aaron Hill, Oliver Lines, and Harvey Chandler.
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
