Zhou Yuelong advanced to Stage Two of Championship League Snooker, but former world champion Stuart Bingham crashed out on Monday in Leicester.
Zhou began his latest bid for a maiden ranking crown with a strong outing in Group 13, going undefeated and taking seven points from a possible nine.
A pair of 3-1 victories over Allan Taylor and Ben Mertens sandwiched a 2-2 tie with Liam Graham, results which helped him finish a couple of points ahead of the latter.
Zhou has been a runner-up in four ranking events and is widely considered as one of the best players to never etch his name onto a trophy of such status.
Still only 28, the Chinese competitor could look to the short-format Championship League – staged behind closed doors – as a softer entry into the world of success on the main tour.
Bingham, meanwhile, could only muster a brace of draws as the former world number two bowed out of Group 11 at the Mattioli Arena.
Mark Joyce was a surprise leader after the round robin, the veteran Englishman only in the lineup as one of the invited amateur top-ups.
Joyce scored successive victories over Bingham and Jordan Brown, with the six points accumulated by then proving to already be enough to see him progress at the expense of the other three.
The 42 year-old lost his final fixture to Mateusz Baranowski, but it didn’t matter.
Zhou and Joyce become the latest pair through to the second phase of the long tournament, and there are just a few days of Stage One action left to play.
Si Jiahui, one of only four members from the top 16 in the entire draw, enters the fray on Tuesday with Marco Fu, Xu Yichen, and Sean Maddocks for company in Group 6.
Following the withdrawal of Tom Ford, Matthew Stevens headlines Group 26 alongside Cheung Ka Wai, Ashley Carty, and George Pragnell.
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, July 6
Group 11 Results
Mark Joyce 3-1 Stuart Bingham
Jordan Brown 2-2 Mateusz Baranowski
Mark Joyce 3-0 Jordan Brown
Stuart Bingham 2-2 Mateusz Baranowski
Mateusz Baranowski 3-1 Mark Joyce
Stuart Bingham 2-2 Jordan Brown
Group 11 Table
1. Mark Joyce – 6 points
2. Mateusz Baranowski – 5 points
3. Stuart Bingham – 2 points
4. Jordan Brown – 2 points
Click here for more information about the tournament.
Group 13 Results
Zhou Yuelong 3-1 Allan Taylor
Liam Graham 3-1 Ben Mertens
Allan Taylor 3-0 Ben Mertens
Zhou Yuelong 2-2 Liam Graham
Liam Graham 2-2 Allan Taylor
Zhou Yuelong 3-1 Ben Mertens
Group 13 Table
1. Zhou Yuelong – 7 points
2. Liam Graham – 5 points
3. Allan Taylor – 4 points
4. Ben Mertens – 0 points
Featured photo credit: WST
