Championship League Group 1 Day 1

Ronnie O'Sullivan was back and on top on the first day of the Championship League at Crondon Park in Essex. The rocket played three matches on the opening day of group 1, all of which were played in the afternoon. His next best challenger is Barry Hawkins who won two matches of the four he played on day one, losing the other two in last frame deciders (one of which was from 2-0 ahead and looking certain to beat Mark Williams).

Mark Williams and Robert Milkins both won two matches of the three they played on day one, with Mark's loss coming in a deciding frame to Ronnie, while Roberts was to Ricky Walden who also has two wins from four games played. Ricky also hit the headlines for losing a frame on the three miss rule with a red on, in whitewash defeat to O'Sullivan.

John Higgins meanwhile only managed one win from four games he played on the opening day and will have a lot of work to do in order to survive relegation in the first group which is most unexpected, while Ryan Day has failed to win a match so far having played in three.

 

 

As you can see from my classic notepad picture there, Higgins started the day off badly in a 3-0 loss to Hawkins where I don't believe that John looked too interested whatsoever. He then lost from 2-0 up against Ronnie having also been defeated by Mark Williams. He could do with winning both of his remaining games against Ryan Day and Robert Milkins in order to survive relegation and possibly make a late push for the top four.

Barring collapses Ronnie looks a certainty for the semi-finals, while it will be a dogfight between the four guys that have played two games in order to fill the other three spots. Mark Williams and Robert Milkins have the obvious advantage of having to play the extra game, but in a sense it will only count for one, as both guys have to play each other.

Ricky Walden with his inferior frames won score needs to win his remaining two games to be guaranteed, with those being against Barry Hawkins and Mark Williams who are ahead of him. Hawkins other game is against Ronnie and you feel he could get away with only a single win from those two games having won so many frames already.

As for Ryan Day, without wanting to right him off, he'll be struggling to avoid relegation with his remaining games coming against Ronnie, Williams and Higgins the last of which is certainly a must win against a fellow struggler. You feel though that he would need to win at least two to have any chance of staying at Crondon for group two.

If Higgins or Day were to get it together today Walden or Milkins could easily be dragged into it if they suffer some loses in their remaining games, with Milkins having to play Ronnie, Higgins and Mark Williams (exactly the same as Day).

If John could beat Milkins and Day he could still make the top four, where he would likely be joined in the case by Williams, Hawkins and Ronnie, and I have to fancy either the Rocket or the Hawk to come out on top in the group overall in the semi's and final.

However, there is still a long way to go in group one and a very tight table presented after the first day so anything could still happen.