Championship League Group 2 - Day 1

It was a slightly less eventful day at Crondon Park on day 1 of the second group of the Championship League after two days where there wasn't much time to catch your breath with the chopping and changing going on. With Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump, Marco Fu, Ali Carter, Robert Milkins, Michael Holt and Matt Selt in the group you know there would be some even contests and a very even group which is exactly what we have after day one.

Robert Milkins, Michael Holt, Stuart Bingham and Matt Selt all have a point from their opening round robin fixtures, with Holt playing four of his games while the others on a single point have only played 3. Ali Carter is third in the group having won a couple of his opening 3 games, while it's Judd Trump and Marco Fu that top the group having won 3 of their opening four, with Fu's only loss coming against Trump, while Judd's came against Matt Selt who is quickly becoming a sort of bogey player for Trump.

In fact, of yesterday's 12 games in the round robin stages, half of those games went down to a deciding frame in this best-of-5 frames format, which shows it truly is anyone's game on day 2 of the group. Here's exactly how we look today courtesy of the Annison notepad (and today free of mistakes):

 

 

What this all means is that anyone of Carter, Selt, Bingham, Holt and Milkins could really make the semi-finals or get eliminated by finishing in the bottom two. Trump and Fu's advantageous end of day one position probably means that they'll finish nicely in the top four and make the play-offs while i expect that Carter will win at least one of his remaining three to make the top four. I expect Stuart Bingham to survive despite the fact that he does have some tough games today to achieve that, while Matt Selt has a very good chance of survival himself as he looked in good form yesterday. Michael Holt having played a game more looks in big trouble as he can no longer afford to lose a game in reality, while Robert Milkins needs to pick up some wins, but also if he does lose too many of his remaining games he needs to pick up some vital frames, as it may come down to frames won and he's only managed a single frame out of the two matches he's lost so far which is a disappointing return.

 

 

For me Trump is probably playing some of the better snooker in this group and I think he is a cut above the rest, so if he wants it i think he can win this group quite comfortably.

 

 

I'll of course be back tomorrow with the news of who did win the group and who'll be in group 3 in a week and a half's time following the Masters at the Ally Pally, a preview of which will be done on Friday and Saturday.