Ali Carter won Group E of Championship League Snooker on Saturday to successfully reach the last eight at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.
The Captain was competing in a three-player group following the withdrawal from the competition of Neil Robertson.
As a result, the format was revised and the players faced off against each other twice each instead of the usual once under the round-robin guise.
Carter duly went undefeated, securing a brace of 3-1 triumphs over Jack Lisowski alongside a couple of 2-2 ties against Wu Yize.
The 44 year-old, who is moving closer to a sixth career ranking title, will be joined in Stage Three by Scott Donaldson.
The latter prevailed from Group A with a record of two victories and a draw.
Donaldson, a former winner of the invitational version of Championship League Snooker, opened his account with a 3-1 triumph over Chris Wakelin.
The Scot then whitewashed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh before a 2-2 tie with Fan Zhengyi guaranteed him top spot in the standings.
Carter and Donaldson join David Gilbert and Long Zehuang, who emerged from Stage Two on Friday, in Wednesday’s final group stage.
Stage Two continues on Monday, meanwhile, with the next couple of groups.
Mark Williams is the highest ranked player left in the tournament and will face Si Jiahui, Ben Woollaston, and Stuart Carrington in Group D.
In Group H, Jak Jones will be in action against Matthew Stevens, Martin O’Donnell, and Ma Hailong.
Saturday, June 29th – Results
Group A
1. Scott Donaldson 3-1 Chris Wakelin
2. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2-2 Fan Zhengyi
3. Scott Donaldson 3-0 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
4. Fan Zhengyi 3-0 Chris Wakelin
5. Fan Zhengyi 2-2 Scott Donaldson
6. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 3-1 Chris Wakelin
Group E
1. Ali Carter 2-2 Wu Yize
2. Wu Yize 3-0 Jack Lisowski
3. Ali Carter 3-1 Jack Lisowski
4. Wu Yize 2-2 Ali Carter
5. Jack Lisowski 3-0 Wu Yize
6. Ali Carter 3-1 Jack Lisowski
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
