Championship League: Hawkins beats Bingham to take Group one

Barry Hawkins has won the first group of the Championship League with some fantastic snooker on the way to beating Stuart Bingham in the group one final. Stuart finished top of the group following the round robin stages, having only lost one game to Judd Trump, who ironically was his semi-final opponent. Judd had only won a couple of games to make the semi's but was 2-0 ahead on Stuart before the local man came back to win 3-2. Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins finished third and had a semi-final with Neil Robertson where Barry played very well in winning 3-1 and then winning the final by the same score.

Stephen Maguire was eliminated finishing bottom of the group, while Mark King fell just a frame short of saving himself from elimination, though he was only in as a replacement for Shaun Murphy at the last minute from the groups start, so anything for him was a bonus. Marco Fu was the lucky/unlucky player who finished fifth in the group missing out on the semi-finals but also saving himself from elimination.

Here's exactly how day 2 of group 1 panned out:

Today then sees the beginning of group two where Stuart Bingham, Marco Fu and Judd Trump coming in from group one are joined by newcomers Ali Carter, Robert Milkins, Michael Holt and Matt Selt has also been drafted in at short notice as a replacement for Neil Robertson who oddly chose to withdraw after group one, the reason for which is unknown but we hope whatever it is the Australian is ok.

Stuart Bingham was the strongest man in group one of the league and he was also my group one tip, so I expect him to do well while Judd Trump seemed to find a little bit of form on day two so he'll make a better fist of this group. Marco played quite poorly in group one so could be in some trouble over the next two days, as Holt, Milkins, Selt and Carter are all quality players and it's hard to pick a couple of players from this group that will be eliminated. It will all come down to how well prepared all of these players entering in group two are prepared and how much work has gone in over Christmas. Robert Milkins really struggled in the Championship League last season so that's something to watch out for, while of course Selt is a very late replacement again and it is a surprise to see him drafted in at world number 37, though he is a very good, hard working player so he'll be fully prepared for the next couple of days.


Who knows what will happen over the next couple of days, because so far there's been plenty going at Crondon Park with late withdrawals and even a maximum break on Monday, but i'll of course be back tomorrow with an update at the halfway stage of the Championship League's second group.