Hossein Vafaei and Noppon Saengkham emerged from two dramatic groups to reach Stage Two of Championship League Snooker on Monday.
Vafaei made an unbeaten start to the tournament in Leicester, topping Group 18 after recovering to earn the draw he required against Fan Zhengyi.
The Iranian won his opening two fixtures against Oliver Sykes and Florian Nuessle to leave himself needing only a point from his final round-robin contest.
Fan took the opening frame to briefly put himself on course for qualification instead before Vafaei responded by winning the next two.
Although Fan salvaged a 2-2 draw, Vafaei had already secured the two frames he needed to finish ahead of the Chinese competitor in the league table.
Group 29 proved even tighter, with three players ending the day level on six points.
Noppon Saengkham, Liam Davies, and Ben Woollaston each won two of their three fixtures in an exciting battle for first place.
Saengkham appeared to leave the door open when he lost 3-1 to Woollaston in his final outing, but a crucial 123 break from that match ultimately proved decisive.
The Thai cueist progressed to Stage Two after finishing above both Woollaston and Davies on the highest break tie-break.
Vafaei and Saengkham become the latest players to book their places in the second phase of the competition, with the remaining Stage One groups continuing over the coming days.
Two more group winners will be determined on Tuesday in Leicester.
Elliot Slessor headlines Group 9 alongside Robert Milkins, Liam Pullen, and Liu Wenwei, while Group 23 features Jimmy Robertson, Martin O’Donnell, Hammad Miah, and Antoni Kowalski.
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.
Monday, June 29
Group 18 Results
Hossein Vafaei 3-1 Oliver Sykes
Fan Zhengyi 2-2 Florian Nuessle
Fan Zhengyi 3-0 Oliver Sykes
Hossein Vafaei 3-0 Florian Nuessle
Florian Nuessle 3-0 Oliver Sykes
Hossein Vafaei 2-2 Fan Zhengyi
Group 18 Table
1. Hossein Vafaei – 7 points
2. Fan Zhengyi – 5 points
3. Florian Nuessle – 4 points
4. Oliver Sykes – 0 points
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Group 29 Results
Ben Woollaston 3-0 Huang Jiahao
Noppon Saengkham 3-1 Liam Davies
Noppon Saengkham 3-0 Huang Jiahao
Liam Davies 3-1 Ben Woollaston
Liam Davies 3-0 Huang Jiahao
Ben Woollaston 3-1 Noppon Saengkham
Group 29 Table
1. Noppon Saengkham – 6 points
2. Liam Davies – 6 points
3. Ben Woollaston – 6 points
4. Huang Jiahao – 0 points
Featured photo credit: WST
