Stephen Maguire moved a step closer to snapping his five-year ranking event drought by winning Group B of Championship League Snooker on Friday.
After almost three weeks of action, Stage Two of the season’s first ranking event finally commenced at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.
Despite the fact there are hardly any star names in the field, Maguire found himself in a difficult foursome.
The Scot was up against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Yuan Sijun, and Zhang Anda – one of only two members from the top 16 in the competition’s last 32.
Maguire drew his opening contest with Yuan before orchestrating a 3-1 defeat of Un-Nooh.
A winner-takes-all tie with Zhang followed, with the latter having also accumulated four points from his opening couple of fixtures.
Zhang won the first frame on the colours, but Maguire responded by winning the ensuing three to advance with seven points.
The former world number two, who reached the final of the Welsh Open in February, last tasted success in a ranking event at the 2020 Tour Championship.
In Group A, meanwhile, Joe O’Connor coasted to top spot with a perfect record of three wins from his three encounters.
The Leicester lad beat Ng On Yee 3-0 to get off to the best perfect start before securing successive 3-1 victories over Haydon Pinhey and Elliot Slessor.
Both Stephen Maguire and Joe O’Connor will be back on Wednesday for Stage Three and the final day of this year’s Championship League where the winner will be crowned.
Prior to that, there are six more groups to be contested in Stage Two with a couple more on the schedule for Saturday.
In Group C, Pang Junxu will be up against Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan, Robbie Williams, and world seniors champion Alfie Burden.
Jack Lisowski – one of the betting favourites in the outright market – features in Group D alongside Xu Si, David Lilley, and Artemijs Zizins.
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.
Friday’s Results
Group A
Joe O’Connor 3-0 Ng On Yee
Elliot Slessor 2-2 Haydon Pinhey
Elliot Slessor 3-1 Ng On Yee
Joe O’Connor 3-1 Haydon Pinhey
Ng On Yee 3-1 Haydon Pinhey
Joe O’Connor 3-1 Elliot Slessor
Table
1. Joe O’Connor – 9 points
2. Elliot Slessor – 4 points
3. Ng On Yee – 3 points
4. Haydon Pinhey 1 point
Group B
Zhang Anda 3-0 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Stephen Maguire 2-2 Yuan Sijun
Stephen Maguire 3-1 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhang Anda 2-2 Yuan Sijun
Yuan Sijun 2-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Stephen Maguire 3-1 Zhang Anda
Table
1. Stephen Maguire – 7 points
2. Zhang Anda – 4 points
3. Yuan Sijun – 3 points
4. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh – 1 point
Featured photo credit: WST
