David Gilbert
Ranking, Snooker Headlines

Gutsy break sends David Gilbert through

David Gilbert produced a remarkable finish to win Group 15 as Stage One of Championship League Snooker concluded on Thursday.

A strange set of results saw all six round-robin fixtures involving Gilbert, Xu Si, Duane Jones, and Andrew Pagett end in 2-2 draws.

With almost everything in the league table identical, their respective positions came down to the highest break compiled during the day’s play in Leicester.

A 100 from Pagett and a 130 from Jones proved not to be enough, which seemed like sending Xu through courtesy of his contribution of 131.

But playing against the Chinese competitor in the last game and trailing 2-1, Gilbert constructed a marvellous run of 136 to advance instead.

In what is largely a dull format, it marked one of the most exciting climaxes to a Championship League Snooker group ever.

The situation was much clearer in Group 3, with defending champion Shaun Murphy easing his way into the last 32.

The Magician, who beat Mark Williams in last year’s final to claim the last of his 12 ranking titles, lost only one frame as he orchestrated a perfect record at the Mattioli Arena.

Murphy secured a brace of 3-0 triumphs over Steven Hallworth and Tian Pengfei either side of a 3-1 victory against Reanne Evans.

With the lineup for Stage Two now complete, the next phase of Championship League Snooker can finally begin after almost three weeks of action.

Groups B and C take place on Friday, with both Murphy and Gilbert immediately returning to the fray.

In Group B, Gilbert will face Stuart Bingham, Ashley Carty, and He Guoqiang.

Murphy entertains Hossein Vafaei, Jamie Jones, and Long Zehuang in Group C.

Like before, the player who finishes in first place following the round-robin format will advance.

Thursday, June 27th – Results

Group 3
1. Shaun Murphy 3-0 Steven Hallworth
2. Tian Pengfei 3-0 Reanne Evans
3. Steven Hallworth 3-1 Tian Pengfei
4. Shaun Murphy 3-1 Reanne Evans
5. Steven Hallworth 3-0 Reanne Evans
6. Shaun Murphy 3-0 Tian Pengfei

Group 15
1. David Gilbert 2-2 Duane Jones
2. Xu Si 2-2 Andrew Pagett
3. Xu Si 2-2 Duane Jones
4. David Gilbert 2-2 Andrew Pagett
5. Andrew Pagett 2-2 Duane Jones
6. David Gilbert 2-2 Xu Si


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

4 Comments

  1. Jay Brannon

    Totally agree about the dull format. The first stage is ridiculously long.

    More good news for Gilbert today as he not only won his group to reach the last day but finally beat Stuart Bingham at the 14th attempt. Nobody beats Dave Gilbert 14 times in a row!

  2. Jay Brannon

    No crowd, short matches and the length of it are all negatives for me. While there’s a Euros to watch and lots of tennis also.

  3. Yep, pretty much a yawn fest.

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