Mixed bag for top seeds as Championship League nears stage one climax
The latest players through to the last 32 of the 2026 Championship League Snooker Ranking Event are Zhou Yuelong and Mark Joyce who won their respective groups on Monday.
We’re into the third week of action in the £328,000 ranking tournament held at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, and there are only three more days (Tuesday to Thursday) of the opening stage remaining before all the group winners return for the second phase.
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Arguably the best player on the World Snooker Tour currently without a top-flight title to their name, Chinese ace Zhou finished top of Group 13 over on table two.
The four-time ranking event runner-up lost the first frame of his opening match to Allan Taylor before stringing together the next three - wrapping up victory with an 86 - for maximum points.
Following wins for Liam Graham and Taylor - who both got the better of Ben Mertens - Zhou returned to the arena and salvaged a 2-2 draw against Scottish youngster Graham, aided by a 75 in the last frame.
Former Snooker Shoot Out runner-up Graham stayed on and completed his fixture list by drawing with Taylor, meaning he remained undefeated and moved on to five points.
The final tie of the pool was Zhou facing bottom-of-the-table Mertens. Because of previous results, Zhou required only a share of the points to usurp Graham and qualify for the next stage. The world number 23 did better than that, though, as runs of 97 and 91 got him the desired point before making an 86 in frame four for a 3-1 win.
Joyce - who doesn’t currently have a professional tour card - has so far made the most of his Q School top-up invite by winning Group 11 and advancing to the last 32.
Former ranking event runner-up Joyce began his day with a 3-1 (57 break) success over top seed Stuart Bingham before returning later in the same session to defeat 2021 Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown 3-0 along with efforts of 56 and 77.
As Mateusz Baranowski drew 2-2 with both Brown and Bingham, after only four of the six matches, Joyce’s qualification was assured; all four players had one game left, Joyce was on six points, Baranowski two, Bingham and Brown both on one.
Joyce lost 3-1 to Baranowski in his final outing meaning the Polish cueman took second in the pool. Former world snooker champion Bingham got third after a 2-2 draw with Brown at the end.
Action continues at Championship League Snooker on Tuesday with Si Jiahui and Marco Fu entering the fray.