Kyren Wilson is through to the Winners’ Group of Championship League Snooker after emerging from Group 3 on Thursday in Leicester.
The world champion edged Jak Jones 3-2 in the final in what was a repeat of their Crucible final from last May.
Wilson lost only one of his round-robin fixtures to comfortably qualify for the knockout stages at the Mattioli Arena.
The 33 year-old then edged Ali Carter, who triumphed at the ranking event version of Championship League Snooker last summer, in a semi-final decider.
In the group final, Wilson took the opening frame against Jones with a break of 54 before his opponent responded with contributions of 70 and 115.
At this point, Jones must have been thinking that it was going to be third-time lucky having already been denied in the finals of both Group 1 and Group 2.
But Wilson won the fourth frame with the aid of a break of 69 before a run of 55 brought him past the winning post.
Group 3 earlier created headlines for the withdrawal of Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The Rocket had already lost four out of his first five league matches before pulling out ahead of his last scheduled match with Carter.
It gifted everyone in the group a walkover victory against O’Sullivan, whose preparations for next week’s Masters defence were hampered by tip problems and ill temperament.
Prize Money
Groups 1–7
Winner: £3,000
Runner-up: £2,000
Semi-final: £1,000
Frame-win (league stage): £100
Frame-win (play-offs): £300
Highest break: £500
Winners’ Group
Winner: £10,000
Runner-up: £5,000
Semi-final: £3,000
Frame-win (league stage): £200
Frame-win (play-offs): £300
Highest break: £1,000
Kyren Wilson, meanwhile, has guaranteed his place in February’s Winner’s Group, where he joins previous group winners Hossein Vafaei and Si Jiahui.
Welshman Jones, who can take consolation in the fact he has earned a lot of money from the event so far from the various bonuses on offer, will have another crack in Group 4.
He’ll be joined by Mark Selby, who won all of his round-robin games before losing to Jones in the last four.
There will be five newcomers to the fray on Friday and Saturday in Stuart Bingham, Matthew Selt, Jimmy Robertson, Jackson Page, and 2024 runner-up Joe O’Connor.
Schedule
Group 1: January 3–4
Hossein Vafaei
Jak Jones
Pang Junxu
Ryan Day
Chris WakelinElliot Slessor
Gary Wilson
Group 2: January 6–7
Si Jiahui
Jak Jones
Ali Carter
Chris Wakelin
Robert MilkinsRyan Day
Pang Junxu
Group 3: January 8–9
Kyren Wilson
Jak Jones
Mark SelbyAli Carter
Chris Wakelin
Robert Milkins
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Group 4: January 10–11
Jak Jones
Mark Selby
Stuart Bingham
Jackson Page
Jimmy Robertson
Joe O’Connor
Matthew Selt
Group 5: January 20–21
Judd Trump
Tom Ford
Neil Robertson
Group 6: January 22–23
David Gilbert
Jack Lisowski
Noppon Saengkham
Group 7: January 24–25
Xiao Guodong
Zhou Yuelong
Matthew Selt
Winners’ Group: February 3–4
Featured photo credit: WST
I’ve not seen O’Sullivan implode to that extent for some time. It may just be frustrations with his cue and how he perceived the level of his performance. I do wonder if his split with Laila Rouass is a factor in his behaviour this season that’s seen a number of late withdrawals.