Chris Wakelin and Joe O’Connor joined the last 32 of Championship League Snooker at the Mattioli Arena on Wednesday.
Wakelin – one of only two top-16 members left in this year’s draw – went undefeated in Group 5 in Leicester.
The former Shoot Out champion is regarded as one of the most improved players on the circuit over the last couple of seasons.
With so many top stars absent from the Championship League field, Wakelin is regarded among the betting favourites for glory in the 2025/26 season’s opening ranking event.
The 33 year-old got off to a strong start by beating amateur top-up Daniel Womersley 3-1 before inflicting a 3-0 defeat on Mitchell Mann.
All he needed to do against remaining opponent Julien Leclercq was avoid defeat, and that’s precisely what he did.
Wakelin took the first two frames of their contest to safeguard the draw he required.
O’Connor, meanwhile, moved through from Group 16 with a perfect record of three victories from his three round-robin fixtures.
The 29 year-old, playing on home soil in Leicester, beat Andrew Pagett, Liam Pullen, and Zak Surety to the loss of just a single frame across a dominant day’s play.
Both Chris Wakelin and Joe O’Connor will rejoin the fray in Stage Two of the competition, which commences on Friday.
Before that, Stage One finally reaches its climax on Thursday with the concluding two groups from the early phase of the tournament on the schedule.
Group 27 will see Aaron Hill joined by Dylan Emery, Sahil Nayyar, and Gary Thomson, while Xu Si will contest Group 29 alongside Fan Zhengyi, Liam Highfield, and Michal Szubarczyk.
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.
Wednesday’s Results
Group 5
Chris Wakelin 3-1 Daniel Womersley
Julien Leclercq 3-0 Mitchell Mann
Julien Leclercq 2-2 Daniel Womersly
Chris Wakelin 3-0 Mitchell Mann
Mitchell Mann 2-2 Daniel Womersley
Chris Wakelin 2-2 Julien Leclercq
Table
1. Chris Wakelin – 7 points
2. Julien Leclercq – 5 points
3. Daniel Womersley – 2 points
4. Mitchell Mann – 1 point
Group 16
Joe O’Connor 3-1 Andrew Pagett
Zak Surety 3-0 Liam Pullen
Zak Surety 3-1 Andrew Pagett
Joe O’Connor 3-0 Liam Pullen
Liam Pullen 3-1 Andrew Pagett
Joe O’Connor 3-0 Zak Surety
Table
1. Joe O’Connor – 9 points
2. Zak Surety – 6 points
3. Liam Pullen – 3 points
4. Andrew Pagett – 0 points
Featured photo credit: WST
