Alexander Ursenbacher
Ranking, Snooker Headlines

Group wins for Alexander Ursenbacher and David Lilley

Alexander Ursenbacher and David Lilley were the latest players to emerge from Stage One of Championship League Snooker in Leicester.

Two more groups took place on Wednesday at the Mattioli Arena with the players competing in the 2024/25 snooker season’s opening ranking event.

An extremely tight Group 26 saw five out of the six round-robin fixtures drawn with 2-2 scorelines.

The only player to break the trend was Ursenbacher, the Swiss beating neighbour Florian Nuessle of Austria 3-0 in his last outing to progress.

Ursenbacher has had a disappointing few seasons but is still only 28, and he will be buoyed by topping a group that also included former ranking event winners Graeme Dott and Matthew Selt.

Proceedings were much more straightforward in Group 27, with Lilley dominating the day by winning all three of his games.

The Englishman got off to the perfect start with a resounding 3-0 victory against Liam Graham and followed it up with a second whitewash success against Paul Deaville.

Final opponent Yuan Sijun had the opportunity to leapfrog his way into first but needed to beat Lilley in the remaining round-robin affair.

But despite losing the first frame against the Chinese competitor, Lilley took the following three to safely progress.

On Thursday, eight more players will vie for a spot in the last 32 and Stage Two of the competition later this month.

Among them is Kyren Wilson, the sport’s newest world champion who is set to make his first appearance of the campaign.

Wilson will face Scott Donaldson, Baipat Siripaporn, and Daniel Womersley in Group 1.

In Group 14, meanwhile, Hossein Vafaei will be challenged by Louis Heathcote, Manasawin Phetmalaikul, and Josh Mulholland.

Wednesday, June 19th – Results

Group 26
1. Matthew Selt 2-2 Florian Nuessle
2. Graeme Dott 2-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
3. Graeme Dott 2-2 Florian Nuessle
4. Matthew Selt 2-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
5. Alexander Ursenbacher 3-0 Florian Nuessle
6. Matthew Selt 2-2 Graeme Dott

Group 27
1. Yuan Sijun 3-0 Paul Deaville
2. David Lilley 3-0 Liam Graham
3. David Lilley 3-0 Paul Deaville
4. Yuan Sijun 2-2 Liam Graham
5. Liam Graham 2-2 Paul Deaville
6. David Lilley 3-1 Yuan Sijun


Championship League Snooker
Stage One Draw

Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4
Scott DonaldsonHe GuoqiangShaun MurphyMark Williams
Kyren WilsonMitchell MannSteven HallworthConnor Benzey
Daniel WomersleyRonnie O’SullivanTian PengfeiDavid Grace
Baipat SiripapornKayden BrierleyReanne EvansFergal Quinn
Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8
Ali CarterGary WilsonRobbie McGuiganJak Jones
Xing ZihaoJoe PerryBarry PinchesJordan Brown
Joshua ThomandMichael HoltSanderson LamAntoni Kowalski
Kreishh GurbaxaniHuang JiahaoTom FordBulcsú Révész
Group 9Group 10Group 11Group 12
Ma HailongJackson PageRyan DayJack Lisowski
Ben MertensAndrew HigginsonLiam DaviesMark Davis
John HigginsRobert MilkinsHammad MiahJiang Jun
Artemijs ZizinsIulian BoikoMarco FuAnton Kazakov
Group 13Group 14Group 15Group 16
Si JiahuiHossein VafaeiDavid GilbertFan Zhengyi
Peter LinesLouis HeathcoteXu SiAlfie Burden
Zak SuretyJoshua MulhollandDuane JonesMink Nutcharut
Jimmy RobertsonManasawin PhetmalaikulAndrew PagettZhou Yuelong
Group 17Group 18Group 19Group 20
Chris WakelinStuart BinghamLong ZehuangStuart Carrington
Ian BurnsHamim HussainAlfie DaviesPang Junxu
Rory McLeodAnthony HamiltonLei PeifanGong Chenzhi
Liam PullenAhmed Aly ElsayedJamie O’NeillGerard Greene
Group 21Group 22Group 23Group 24
Neil RobertsonJoe O’ConnorMichael WhiteMartin O’Donnell
Cheung Ka WaiAaron HillRyan DaviesRicky Walden
Jamie ClarkeHarvey ChandlerStephen MaguireRory Thor
Zack RichardsonOliver LinesDean YoungUmut Dikme
Group 25Group 26Group 27Group 28
Matthew StevensAlexander UrsenbacherDavid LilleyWu Yize
Farakh AjaibMatthew SeltYuan SijunRoss Muir
Robbie WilliamsGraeme DottLiam GrahamAllan Taylor
Haydon PinheyFlorian NuesslePaul DeavilleJoshua Cooper
Group 29Group 30Group 31Group 32
Ben WoollastonJamie JonesAshley CartyThepchaiya Un-Nooh
Stan MoodyIshpreet Singh ChadhaElliot SlessorDaniel Wells
Dominic DaleChris TottenSimon BlackwellMark Joyce
Dylan EmeryLiu HongyuMostafa DorghamJulien Leclercq

Stage Two

Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
Scott DonaldsonDavid GilbertLong ZehuangMark Williams
Fan ZhengyiStuart BinghamHossein VafeaiBen Woollaston
Thepchaiya Un-NoohHe GuoqiangShaun MurphyStuart Carrington
Chris WakelinAshley CartyJamie JonesSi Jiahui
Group EGroup FGroup GGroup H
Ali CarterDavid LilleyJackson PageMartin O’Donnell
Wu YizeGary WilsonAlexander UrsenbacherJak Jones
Jack LisowskiRyan DayRobbie McGuiganMatthew Stevens
Neil RobertsonJoe O’ConnorMichael WhiteMa Hailong

Stage Three

Final Group 1Final Group 2
Ali CarterJackson Page
Scott DonaldsonDavid Gilbert
Mark WilliamsLong Zehuang
Martin O’DonnellDavid Lilley

Final (bo5)

Ali Carter 3-1 Jackson Page


Featured photo credit: WST

2 Comments

  1. I appreciate your work. I’m glad to see David Lilley win his group with 3 straight wins.

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