Championship League Group 5: Day 1

After day 1 of the fifth group down at Crondon Park for the Championship League we certainly have a tale of two halves in the end of day table as there have been some dominant performances at the top while others at the bottom have not had a great day. The certain inclusion in group 5 of Ronnie O'Sullivan has got more people watching and talking about the Crondon Park action that wouldn't normally.

Ronnie got off to the perfect start on day one as he made three centuries on the way to three wins from three, the last of which took the small matter of 20 minutes for three frames against Fergal O'Brien. He's joined at the top by group 3 and 4 runner-up Mark Davis who is looking to go one better this time and has got off to the perfect start himself with three wins from his opening three games. Two victories in the evening session from David Gilbert meant that his day was a very good one as he held on for three victories from his opening four games. Fergal O'Brien had a mixed day as he won half of his four games, losing to Davis and O'Sullivan but beating Liang Wenbo and Michael White. Michael struggled in his four games, despite two centuries in beating Peter Ebdon 3-0, that was his only win of the day as he was disappointing otherwise. Liang Wenbo and Peter Ebdon meanwhile were very disappointing as they couldn't manage a win between them, both having played three games each so far, so they need dramatic turnarounds today. Here's everything that happened yesterday, courtesy of my notepad:

So then as you can see Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Davis and David Gilbert are in fantastic positions today and really only need one win each from their remaining games to guarantee their semi-final places, although they may well have enough points now if other things go their way. Fergal O'Brien you feel could sneak in with only one win from his final two games, but he certainly would need at least that to be certain of avoiding elimination. Michael White has it all to do and realistically he should be looking for wins from his final two games to be certain of avoiding elimination, and then see if he has enough points and frames on the board to get into the top four. Meanwhile, Liang Wenbo and Peter Ebdon are in big trouble and need big responses today to ensure that they avoid elimination, with them having to eye at least two wins from their final three games to have any chance. Though Peter Ebdon was in the same position after day one of group three and a maximum of three wins from his final three games on the Tuesday saved him, so he has that to call upon today, and he certainly needs it.


That's all from me today, but i'll be back at a similar time tomorrow to inform you of the group 5 winner and of everything that happens today, as well as taking a look ahead to the penultimate qualifying group, Group 6, which starts on Wednesday.