Former champion David Gilbert booked his place in Stage Two of Championship League Snooker after progressing unbeaten from Group 21 on Thursday.
The 2021 winner has endured an indifferent spell over the last couple of seasons with few deep runs in ranking events, but he made a confident start to the new campaign in Leicester.
Gilbert began with a comfortable 3-0 victory over women’s world champion Panchaya Channoi before sharing the spoils in a 2-2 draw with Mahmoud El Hareedy.
The 45 year-old then secured top spot in the standings by overcoming fellow Englishman Ricky Walden 3-1 in the final fixture of the day.
Walden, a three-time ranking event winner but in danger of getting sucked into a tour survival scrap this season, entered the contest with qualification still within his grasp.
However, the Englishman was unable to deny Gilbert a place in Stage Two.
Meanwhile, Scott Donaldson emerged from a tightly contested Group 20.
The Scot and Yuan Sijun were level on four points heading into their head-to-head clash at the end of the day after both had registered a victory and a draw from their opening two matches.
Donaldson rose to the occasion with a 3-1 triumph over the higher-ranked Chinese competitor to secure first place and join Gilbert in the last 32 of the competition.
The pair become the latest players to advance from Stage One, joining Xu Si, Dylan Emery, Chang Bingyu, Ian Burns, Jackson Page, and Zhang Anda in the next phase.
There are still 24 more group winners to be decided in this section of the tournament, with another two groups scheduled for Friday in Leicester.
Gary Wilson headlines Group 14 alongside Lyu Haotian, Alexander Ursenbacher, and amateur Duane Jones, while Group 28 features He Guoqiang, Sean O’Sullivan, Liu Yang, and amateur Dylan Smith.
Smith has been drafted into the field following the withdrawal of Anthony McGill.
Championship League Snooker represents the opening ranking event of the fledgling 2026/27 snooker season.
The overall winner on July 15th 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, June 25
Group 20 Results
Yuan Sijun 3-0 Bai Yulu
Scott Donaldson 3-1 Sahil Nayyar
Scott Donaldson 2-2 Bai Yulu
Yuan Sijun 2-2 Sahil Nayyar
Sahil Nayyar 2-2 Bai Yulu
Scott Donaldson 3-1 Yuan Sijun
Group 20 Table
1. Scott Donaldson – 7 points
2. Yuan Sijun – 4 points
3. Sahil Nayyar – 2 points
4. Bai Yulu – 2 points
Click here for more information about the tournament.
Group 21 Results
David Gilbert 3-0 Panchaya Channoi
Ricky Walden 2-2 Mahmoud El Hareedy
Ricky Walden 3-0 Panchaya Channoi
David Gilbert 2-2 Mahmoud El Hareedy
Mahmoud El Hareedy 3-0 Panchaya Channoi
David Gilbert 3-1 Ricky Walden
Group 21 Table
1. David Gilbert – 7 points
2. Mahmoud El Hareedy – 5 points
3. Ricky Walden – 4 points
4. Panchaya Channoi – 0 points
Featured photo credit: WST
