Stuart Bingham is Crondon Champion

After eight gruelling groups of Championship League action, with 7 qualifying groups and the Winners group action it was Stuart Bingham who took the 2015 Championship League title and earned his place in next seasons Champion of Champions event in Coventry. Stuart Bingham played in the most groups of the Championship League starting in group one and eventually winning group four before taking on the Winners Group.

Yesterday started off with Matt Selt winning a further two games to top the group while Mark Davis did the same to finish a close second. Mark played Ben Woollaston in the semi-finals after Ben won a further one of his final three matches to secure third spot and it took a 3-0 victory for Stuart Bingham in his final match against Barry Hawkins to sneak ahead of Barry by just a single frame won and take the final spot in the last four, as Hawkins finished 5th with Carter 6th and Xiao Guodong bringing up the rear.

In the semi-finals, Matt Selt was beaten once again by his nemesis Stuart Bingham who is turning into one of Matt's very few bogey players now for a man who is certainly the most improved player of the last 12 months, but on this occasion Matt went out as Bingham strolled into the final with a 3-1 victory. Mark Davis joined him to make it 4 finals in 4 groups played as he came back from 2-0 behind against Ben Woollaston to pull off a deciding frame 3-2 win. In the final it was pretty even stuff with no more than a frame in it as Bingham won the first before Mark took the next two to go a frame away from his biggest professional title at 2-1, but he was scuppered by Stuart who came back to win the final two frames, taking the match and the title with a 3-2 victory.

Here is how everything played out yesterday in full, with my final notepad picture (for this season at least):

That may be it for this years Championship League but the season is well and truly in full swing now, and next up we have the Welsh open with all 128 players,  playing from the first round at the venue at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, where Championship League winner Stuart Bingham is sure to be one of the favourites,  and i'll be back tomorrow with my preview of the upcoming action over the course of the next week.

Fantasy Snooker League: Points Update and Welsh Open Players

After a gruelling schedule of the German Masters followed very quickly by Championship League Group 7 and the Winners Group since the last update on the points and overall standings, with a few days now before the Welsh Open, that has given me plenty of time to perform the necessary maths and give you guys an up to date Fantasy League table. So, without further stalling, here's how we stand:

Updated Table:

1st: Andrew Brooker: 431 points
2nd: Ezgi Ulutas: 331 points
3rd: SnookerFollower: 327 points
4th: Michael Coudray: 320 points
5th: Gary: 319 points
6th: Gorkem Kurt: 291 points
7th: Sean: 285 points
8th: TungstenDarts: 259 points
9th: LTD: 244 points
10th: Anthony Ward: 219 points
11th: Guillermo: 196 points
12th: Kjetil: 188 points


Andrew's lead at the top then has been closed in to 100 points, but after that places 2nd to 9th are separated by less than 100 so it's very tightly compacted at the business end of the table. It's another big event coming up which means more players to price up, but for the Welsh Open which is next week we have 128 players at the venue and to be honest, not even I'm sad enough to price each player individually, so I'm going to price them in groups by seeding for the event, and if you are unsure of an individual players price just tweet me and i'll confirm it for you.

Welsh Open Players and Prices:

Ronnie O'Sullivan - £6 million
Mark Selby - £5.8 million
Ding Junhui - £5.6 million
Neil Robertson - £5.5 million
Barry Hawkins - £5.3 million
Mark Allen - £5.1 million
Judd Trump - £5 million
Stuart Bingham - £4.9 million
Ricky Walden - £4.8 million
Marco Fu - £4.7 million
Shaun Murphy - £4.6 million
Stephen Maguire - £4.5 million
Ali Carter - £4.4 million
Joe Perry - £4.3 million
John Higgins - £4.2 million
Robert Milkins - £4 million

Players Seeded 17-32 - £3.5 million
Players Seeded 33-48 - £3 million
Players Seeded 49-64 - £2 million
Players Seeded 65-128 - £1.5 million


Otherwise guys, it's the same as normal, any questions on how much a player will cost or how much you have left over to go with the 8 million for two players for this event, please tweet me, otherwise get picking and the deadline is before the first matches at 10.30am on Monday morning UK time.

Championship League Winners Group: Day 1

Following the first days play at the Championship League Final Group it's anyone's title for the taking as any of the seven players are theoretically in with a chance of making it into the top four of the group and into the semi-finals tonight, where of course we will play down to a winner and a place in next seasons Champion of Champions will be earned.

Ali Carter tops the group at present on the pure reason that he won his group match against Stuart Bingham as both have won the same amount of matches, frames and lost the same amount of frames too. Carter and Bingham have each won two of their opening four matches, while Mark Davis and Matt Selt were the other two players I predicted for good starts and they have each won two of their opening three games and will be looking to kick on, as will Ben Woollaston who has done exactly the same yesterday winning two of three. Then we find Xiao Guodong who has played four games and only won one, and had the harsh factor of playing three straight games yesterday which he lost all of in the evening, after the afternoon session overran. Barry Hawkins completes the set with his solitary win from his opening three games and he was the player who had an evening off yesterday (which he used to decide to withdraw from the Indian Open, and join the other 8 top 16 players not entered). Here is exactly how the first day went in terms of results, and of course the table looks at the half way stage, with the penultimate notepad picture of the 2015 Championship League:

 

 

 

What all of this means is that really, starting from the bottom of the table, Xiao Guodong needs to win both of his remaining group games to have any chance of taking a top four spot as i expect the mark will three points to take fourth place as usual. Barry Hawkins has a bit more room for manoeuvre but not much, he needs at least two wins from his remaining three games although it may be a maximum of three wins that is required. Ben Woolllaston, Matt Selt and Mark Davis are all in similar boats that one win will have them in good position for a semi-final spot, but two wins would really secure that berth in the last four. Again, Ali Carter and Stuart Bingham both have less leeway with this one as they have one less game and therefore could really do with winning all of their remaining games to make it into the semi-finals.

 

Ali Carter's remaining games are against Ben Woollaston while Bingham faces Barry Hawkins and Xiao Guodong, so you have to say that the chances for both are reasonable and anything could happen there. Ben Woollaston faces very tough games against Stuart Bingham, Barry Hawkins and Matt Selt, with that one against Matt being a really key one for both players there as Selt has Xiao Guodong and another key game against Mark Davis who is in the same position as Matt. Marks other two games are against Barry Hawkins and Ali Carter so again that is tough for Mark Davis and the simple matter is that the best four players today will be the four to make the semi-finals, because you can pretty much throw yesterday out of the window, as everything is so even.

 

 

When I come back tomorrow it will be to bring you news of who the Championship League Champion is, and I could still make a strong case for six of the seven guys competing, with Xiao Guodong the man that will really be struggling to make the last four. I'm sure it will be nervy towards the end because there is good money and opportunities at stake as the winner should get a place in next seasons Champion of Champions which is an incredibly lucrative event, and currently none of these seven players have yet qualified (in fact Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby are the only ones guaranteed), so it's sure to be a big day of snooker. 

Guodong seals final Winners Group spot

Xiao Guodong took the final spot in the Winners Group to see off the challenge from the six other guys in his group, to join the other six members of the Winners Group which starts today, seeing off David Gilbert in the final who was superb throughout.

As the group stage came to a close, Dominic Dale had slim hopes of making the semi-finals and he couldn't even manage a couple of wins for his own pride losing both of his final games to finish winless at the bottom of the table. John Higgins also failed to qualify for the semi-finals winning only one of his final three games, starting the day by being whitewashed by David Gilbert and Peter Ebdon. Despite two wins to start the day from Ebdon, he lost his final game 3-2 to Fergal O'Brien and missed on the semi-finals by a frame as Mark Williams snuck into fourth spot. Xiao Guodong ended up in third place after a last gasp victory against David Gilbert from 2-1 down after Gilbert had just made a 147 maximum break in frame three, and at one stage Guodong could've been knocked out if he lost 3-1 in that encounter, and Ebdon beat O'Brien. That was the only match that Gilbert lost in the group stages as he finished top of the group and set up a semi-final with Mark Williams while Xiao Guodong took on Fergal O'Brien in the last four.

After Williams took the opening frame against Gilbert, David continued his form of the last two days in reeling off three straight frames to book his final place with a 3-1 win, while things were also comfortable for the Chinaman who beat Fergal O'Brien 3-0 straight after Fergal's marathon final group game with Ebdon. By the time the final came around Xiao Guodong had a lot of momentum and had been the only player to beat Gilbert in the last two days. He won the first frame on the colours, before making a good break in the next and sealing the victory after potting the final red in frame three. Here's exactly how everything happened yesterday courtesy of the notepad:

What this means is that the final line-up for the Winners Group which starts today is complete and one of: Barry Hawkins, Matt Selt, Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham, Mark Davis, Ben Woollaston and Xiao Guodong will be the 2015 Championship League Winner and take a coveted place in next seasons Champion of Champions event so there is a big chance for some players out there.

It's a long time since Hawkins won group one and his form isn't really great so he could struggle, and Ben Woollaston is another I don't quite think will be challenging since he came through a very scrappy group and will have to step his game up big time. Mark Davis made two other finals before beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the group five final and his form is good so he'll be one of the favourites along with Xiao Guodong who has the momentum of playing in the last two days of Crondon Park action, and playing very well in those days. Ali Carter loves it at Crondon Park and played very well to win group 3 and I think he'll make at least the semi-finals along with Davis. Matt Selt has been playing very well for a long time and I expect him to win at least half of his six games in this group and probably do enough overall to get into the last four himself, while Stuart Bingham has played in more groups of the Championship League than anyone else winning at the fourth attempt so he'll certainly be in tune with the Crondon Park conditions and it is a very tough call as to who will win this event now.

As I mentioned there though I think that one of Ali Carter, Matt Selt and Mark Davis will win it now, because all of them look very dangerous.

I'll be back tomorrow to update you on how these three guys and all of the members of the Winners Group are getting on after the first day of play at Crondon Park.

Championship League Group 7: Day 1

It's all to play for after day one of the seventh and final qualifying group at the Championship League as the seven remaining players battle to join Hawkins, Bingham, Carter, Mark Davis, Selt and Woollaston in the Winners Group which starts tomorrow.

David Gilbert and Fergal O'Brien had the best of things on day one, both winning three of their opening games with Gilbert playing three yesterday and O'Brien four. Xiao Guodong also had a pretty good opening day as he played three games and picked up a nice couple of wins, while Mark Williams won two and lost two of his four games played on day one to just sneak into the top four on day one. John Higgins and Peter Ebdon both struggled to get going yesterday, as neither could manage more than a solitary victory from their three games, though Higgins did lose in a couple of deciding frames which means his frames won column is looking good despite the loses. Propping up the table and really out of contention for a semi-final spot in the top four of the league table is Dominic Dale who couldn't manage a victory from any of his four games on day one, and two victories shouldn't be enough to break into the top four, so the Welshman is now only playing for pride.

Here is exactly what happened yesterday, courtesy of my notepad picture on what was a very even day:

 

 

So then, heading into the final day of the group 6 of the 7 players are still in with a decent chance of making the semi-finals by finishing in the groups top four. Fergal O'Brien probably only needs another win to fully secure his spot of his two remaining games, though even if he loses both games he should still scrape in. David Gilbert meanwhile having won all of his opening three games, only needs the one win from his last three to get into the semi-finals though a couple of wins could see him top the group which is always handy when it comes to the semi-finals. Xiao Guodong looks good but could still do with at least one win, and maybe two from his remaining three games while Mark Williams is in a similar boat, just with only the two games to go, but one win may just complete the job. John Higgins and Peter Ebdon struggled yesterday and that means they'll both need at least two wins from their last three games, but because of Ebdon's inferior frames won tally he may need a clean sweep of his matches today. As I said earlier in the piece Dominic Dale has no real hopes of getting through and less something extraordinary happens in the other games and he gets two convincing victories in last two matches.

 

 

 

As always i'll be back tomorrow with information on who won group 7 to take the final place in the Winners group, along with a very quick look ahead to the Winners Group itself and who I fancy to take the overall Championship League title and a place in the Champion of Champions next season. 

Fantasy Snooker League: Championship League Players

Right then, there's no time for an update on the points for the fantasy league this week as the German Masters hasn't yet finished, but with the Championship League Group 7 starting tomorrow and the Winners Group from Wednesday.

It's an odd situation this week with the final qualifying group and Winner group so I'm going to treat the two as two separate tournaments unlike the rest of the qualifying groups so it's time to price up the players for these events:

Championship League Group 7 (Deadline 9th February 12pm) £5 MILLION FOR 1 PLAYER:

John Higgins £4.2 million
Mark Williams £3.5 million
Xiao Guodong £3.5 million
Fergal O'Brien £3.5 million
Dominic Dale £3.5 million
Peter Ebdon £3.5 million
David Gilbert £3 million


Championship League Winners Group (Deadline Wednesday 11th February at 11am) £8 Million for Two Players as usual:

Barry Hawkins £5.3 million
Stuart Bingham £4.9 million
Ali Carter £4.4 million
Mark Davis £3.5 million
Matt Selt £3 million
Ben Woollaston £3 million

As always if something is unclear feel free to tweet me, along as if you want to know how much money you have left over.

Murphy and Selby going for Berlin Glory

Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby are through to the German Masters final after winning their semi-finals in different styles yesterday. Shaun Murphy got through to the final after beating Liang Wenbo 6-4 in the semi-finals. Shaun had led 3-0 early on in the match, but as he did against Mark Allen and Ronnie O'Sullivan in the previous couple of rounds he went on to lose four frames in a row and found himself 4-3 behind. However, he was able to step it up once again and he won all of the last three frames to take the match 6-4, and along the way he had two total clearances of 141 and 145, so other than the four frames in the middle of the match he was in fine form.

Mark Selby meanwhile had things much easier against Stephen Maguire as he played well from the start of the match and in similar fashion to Shaun taking a nice 3-0 advantage, with three good breaks to start off the match. Stephen pulled one back before the break, but Mark won the next two to go one away from the match at 5-1. While Maguire won another frame it was only a consolation as Selby finished off the match for a 6-2 victory.

Final Preview:

Mark Selby Vs Shaun Murphy - This is going to be a really tough final, and I have to say I'm finding it an incredibly tight one to call. Mark Selby's momentum has been building throughout the week after he started the week with a tough decider and an elongated match against Peter Ebdon before he seemed to find his very top scoring form in the matches against Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire. That was to be expected after he came over from China just before the event and you have to say that he's looked like he's getting fresher and stronger as the week has gone on rather than becoming more tired and starting to peter out. Shaun Murphy meanwhile has been playing well all week long with good performances in all of his matches against Michael Wasley, Mark Allen, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Liang Wenbo, so both players have had some very tough matches so far. They're both going to be very confident, but especially Murphy after the season he has had so far. Both of these guys are incredibly evenly matched, even on the head to head where they are now pretty equal. Shaun won the last couple of matches in this years Masters opening round and the Haikou World Open final last year so, but Mark was on a very good run for a long period of time before that, and that may make Shaun even more determined to go on a run similar over the next 18 months.

It's almost impossible for me to call this one, but I just feel like Mark's momentum is building this season and with that should come this title.

Prediction: 9-7 to Mark Selby


Whatever the outcome I'm sure it's going to be a great final, especially judging by the matches they have had so far this week in this wonderful arena at the Tempodrome in Berlin. I'll be back in good time to look ahead to the Championship League this week with the Fantasy League.