Sam Craigie topped Group 23 of Championship League Snooker at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester on Thursday.
The Englishman was out for the entirety of the 2024/25 snooker season with a serious neck injury.
The 31 year-old had anterior cervical disc replacement surgery, but his recovery took longer than expected.
It resulted in him dropping outside the world’s top 64 and losing his tour card, but he was awarded a fresh one ahead of the 2025/26 campaign on medical grounds.
Since returning to the sport, former German Masters semi-finalist Craigie first lost his opening Wuhan Open qualifying encounter to Aaron Hill.
But a 4-1 defeat of Yao Pengcheng in the British Open qualifiers rekindled the winning habit.
Craigie got off to the perfect start in Group 23 of Championship League Snooker by beating top seed Jimmy Robertson 3-0.
Draws against veteran Mark Davis and rookie Connor Benzey followed, leaving him with an undefeated record following the day’s play.
Despite finishing on the same number of points as Davis, Craigie edged his countryman to first place on the league table through a superior frame difference record.
Ben Mertens, meanwhile, triumphed in Group 10 after winning two and drawing one of his three round-robin fixtures.
Mertens beat Jonas Luz 3-0 to get off to the best possible start before a 2-2 tie with Alfie Davies.
His final opponent was 2024 World Championship runner-up Jak Jones, who boasted an identical record which essentially resulted in a winner-took-all battle between the pair.
The young Belgian dominated the affair with runs of 76, 64, and 59 helping him seal a comprehensive 3-0 win.
Both Sam Craigie and Ben Mertens will rejoin the fray in the last 32 of the competition later this month.
Before that, there are still a dozen more groups from Stage One to be completed with two more on the schedule for Friday.
Tom Ford is in Group 8 with Allan Taylor, Mink Nutcharut, and Simon Blackwell, while Noppon Saengkham contests Group 21 alongside Liu Hongyu, Ian Burns, and Patrick Whelan.
Championship League Snooker represents the opening ranking event of the fledgling 2025/26 snooker season.
The overall winner on July 23rd will take home £33,000 worth of prize money and ranking points, plus a ticket to the lucrative Champion of Champions invitational later this year.
Live coverage is available for Ireland and UK viewers on the Matchroom Multi Sport and Matchroom Pool YouTube channels.
Thursday’s Results
Group 10
Jak Jones 2-2 Alfie Davies
Ben Mertens 3-0 Jonas Luz
Ben Mertens 2-2 Alfie Davies
Jak Jones 3-0 Jonas Luz
Alfie Davies 3-0 Jonas Luz
Ben Mertens 3-0 Jak Jones
Table
1. Ben Mertens – 7 points
2. Alfie Davies – 5 points
3. Jak Jones – 4 points
4. Jonas Luz – 0 points
Group 23
Sam Craigie 3-0 Jimmy Robertson
Mark Davis 3-1 Connor Benzey
Mark Davis 2-2 Sam Craigie
Jimmy Robertson 3-0 Connor Benzey
Connor Benzey 2-2 Sam Craigie
Jimmy Robertson 2-2 Mark Davis
Table
1. Sam Craigie – 5 points
2. Mark Davis – 5 points
3. Jimmy Robertson – 4 points
4. Connor Benzey – 1 point
Featured photo credit: WST
