Former champion David Gilbert gave himself a chance of winning another Championship League Snooker title after topping his latest group in Leicester.
The 2021 winner secured first place in Group E of Stage Two in Leicester with a record of two victories and a defeat.
Gilbert began his day at the Mattioli Arena with a 3-1 victory over 2024 champion Ali Carter and followed it up by beating Chris Wakelin by the same margin.
Those wins combined with results elsewhere meant that the Englishman was looking likely to win the group heading into the last round of fixtures.
A 3-0 loss to He Guoqiang proved immaterial, with Gilbert moving through to the last eight of the competition following Wakelin’s failure to beat Carter.
Wakelin’s exit means that there will be no members from the top 16 in the last phase, granting a big opportunity to some of the middle-ranked and lower-ranked players to land silverware early on this term.
In Group F, Jak Jones progressed courtesy of an undefeated streak of two wins and a draw.
The Welshman, chasing a maiden ranking crown, was on the back foot after scoring just a point from his draw with amateur top-up Mark Joyce.
But a 3-0 defeat of Marco Fu followed, leaving a straightforward scenario heading into his final outing against Chang Bingyu.
Only a win against Chang, who had already beaten Fu and Joyce, would do, and Jones duly orchestrated a 3-1 triumph to advance at the expense of the young Chinese competitor.
Gilbert and Jones join Noppon Saengkham, Lei Peifan, Hossein Vafaei, and Dylan Emery who already qualified for Stage Three.
The last two groups from Stage Two are on Tuesday with Jack Lisowski – the highest-ranked player left in the field – in Group G alongside Zhang Anda, Jimmy Robertson, and Cheung Ka Wai.
Elliot Slessor has Xu Si, Jackson Page, and Dean Young for company in Group H.
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 13
Group E Results
Chris Wakelin 3-1 He Guoqiang
David Gilbert 3-1 Ali Carter
Ali Carter 2-2 He Guoqiang
David Gilbert 3-1 Chris Wakelin
He Guoqiang 3-0 David Gilbert
Chris Wakelin 2-2 Ali Carter
Group E Table
1. David Gilbert – 6 points
2. He Guoqiang – 4 points
3. Chris Wakelin – 4 points
4. Ali Carter – 2 points
Click here for more information about the tournament.
Group F Results
Jak Jones 2-2 Mark Joyce
Chang Bingyu 3-1 Marco Fu
Chang Bingyu 3-0 Mark Joyce
Jak Jones 3-1 Marco Fu
Marco Fu 3-0 Mark Joyce
Jak Jones 3-1 Chang Bingyu
Group F Table
1. Jak Jones – 7 points
2. Chang Bingyu – 6 points
3. Marco Fu – 3 points
4. Mark Joyce – 1 point
Featured photo credit: WST
