Finals Day in Essex

Here we are then for the final day of the 2013 Championship League at Crondon Park in Essex. 7 guys are left going for the title and the possible Premier League spot (if it is to stay in it's current format) and all 7 could still walk away with the title and £10,000 overall winners money (excluding frames won prize money of £300).

Here's how the table looks after day 1:
                    
                         Played     Won    Lost       Frames Won     Frames Lost           Points
Ding Junhui         4             3         1                 10                        7                        3
Allister Carter      3             2         1                  8                         5                        2
Marco Fu            4             2         2                  8                         8                        2
Mark Allen          4             2         2                  7                         9                        2
Martin Gould       3             1         2                  7                         6                        1
John Higgins       3             1         2                  5                         6                        1
Barry Hawkins    3             1         2                  4                         8                        1

At this stage any of the seven players could still make the top 4 and the evenings semi-finals with Gould, Higgins and Hawkins still having 3 games to play, despite having only won 1 of their 3 matches so far. The in form player and holder Ding Junhui is looking good with 3 wins already under his belt with still 2 games left, and he's already made 4 century breaks in this group. Ali Carter is also in as good a position and should also make the semi-finals with 2 points on the board so far, with 3 matches still to play. Group 7 winner from earlier this week, Marco Fu and Group 4 winner Mark Allen are in possibly tricky situations, both having 2 points from 4 games so far, so both have 2 games to play. It's likely that only 1 of them will make it though as they play each other this afternoon.

Remaining Fixtures:

John Higgins Vs Barry Hawkins
Ali Carter Vs Martin Gould
Mark Allen Vs Marco Fu
Ding Junhui Vs Barry Hawkins
Ali Carter Vs Marco Fu
John Higgins Vs Martin Gould
Ding Junhui Vs Martin Gould
Ali Carter Vs Barry Hawkins
John Higgins Vs Mark Allen

So i think that Ding Junhui should be a certain for the semi-finals and i'm pretty certain Ali Carter will make it having already won 2 matches, and arguably his toughest matches were yesterday. Marco Fu has a slight advantage, gaining some momentum from victory in Group 7 on Monday and Tuesday and i think that might see him through if he can beat Mark Allen. Looking at Gould, Hawkins and Higgins, i think that Higgins has the advantage of being able to play both guys around him, as well as not having to play the top 2 of Carter and Ding. Therefore my semi-finalists would be Ding, Carter, Fu and Higgins.

For clarification, if players are tied on points, who finishes where is determined by, firstly, frames won and then amount of frames lost.

The semi-final line-up will be:
1st Place Vs 4th Place
2nd Place Vs 3rd Place

Should be quite an exciting conclusion to this one and i'm looking forward to seeing who will come out on top, and gain some valuable momentum for the China Open, and none other than the World Championship.