Zhang Anda and Elliot Slessor accomplished the last-eight lineup of Championship League Snooker in Leicester on Tuesday.
Each gamers emerged from their Stage Two teams with unbeaten data of two victories and a draw.
Zhang recovered from a sluggish begin and a 2-2 draw with Jimmy Robertson to comfortably safe his passage via with back-to-back 3-0 defeats over Cheung Ka Wai and Jack Lisowski.
It was the same scenario for Slessor, who might solely muster a tie with Dean Younger however bounced again with a brace of 3-1 wins towards Jackson Web page and Xu Si.
Tuesday, July 14
Group G Outcomes
Cheung Ka Wai 3-0 Jack Lisowski
Zhang Anda 2-2 Jimmy Robertson
Zhang Anda 3-0 Cheung Ka Wai
Jack Lisowski 3-0 Jimmy Robertson
Jimmy Robertson 3-0 Cheung Ka Wai
Zhang Anda 3-0 Jack Lisowski
Group G Desk
1. Zhang Anda – 7 factors
2. Jimmy Robertson – 4 factors
3. Cheung Ka Wai – 3 factors
4. Jack Lisowski – 3 factors
Click on right here for extra details about the match.
Group H Outcomes
Elliot Slessor 2-2 Dean Younger
Xu Si 3-1 Jackson Web page
Xu Si 2-2 Dean Younger
Elliot Slessor 3-1 Jackson Web page
Jackson Web page 2-2 Dean Younger
Elliot Slessor 3-1 Xu Si
Group H Desk
1. Elliot Slessor – 7 factors
2. Xu Si – 4 factors
3. Dean Younger – 3 factors
4. Jackson Web page – 1 level
Slessor joins Lei Peifan, David Gilbert, and Noppon Saengkham in Winners’ Group 1 with Zhang slotting into Winners’ Group 2 alongside Hossein Vafaei, Jak Jones, and Dylan Emery.
So after greater than three weeks of motion on the Mattioli Enviornment, the 2026/27 snooker season’s first rating occasion champion will lastly be topped.
Solely 4 gamers from the world’s high 16 participated within the match and none of them managed to make it this far.
Among the many eight rivals who’ve made it to Stage Three, 4 already perceive what it takes to elevate a rating trophy – albeit every solely as soon as.
Gilbert is the one former winner of this occasion nonetheless within the lineup, the Offended Farmer trying to match his success within the competitors from 5 years in the past.
Vafaei is a former Shoot Out champion whereas Zhang and Lei have respective victories within the financial institution from the Worldwide Championship and the Scottish Open.
The opposite 4 contenders are bidding to land silverware on the principle tour for the primary time.
Saengkham was a runner-up to Gary Wilson on the 2023 Scottish Open, whereas Jones was a shock finalist on the World Snooker Championship a couple of months later.
Slessor has been knocking on the door of a correct breakthrough for a couple of seasons, rising to a career-high of 19 on this planet rankings via a number of runs to the semi-finals of occasions.
Emery is the apparent outlier, with the 25 year-old from Wales having by no means earlier than even been ranked inside the highest 64.
With such a brief and unpredictable format, nevertheless, it’s anybody’s guess who will really be the final individual standing.
The preliminary purpose on Wednesday is easy although – win your group to achieve the ultimate, which can be performed throughout a dash of best-of-five frames.
There’s a champion’s cheque value £20,000 up for grabs, though varied different bonuses all through every group stage imply that the general winner will take dwelling a handbag of £33,000.
It’s not an infinite quantity, particularly compared to a lot of the different tournaments on the calendar.
However it is going to be a pressure-easing technique to begin a brand new marketing campaign, and there can be a substantial increase in confidence forward of extra appreciable assessments on the schedule to return.
Stay protection is on the market for Eire and UK viewers on the Matchroom Multi Sport and Matchroom Pool YouTube channels.
Stage Three
| Group | Date | Gamers |
|---|---|---|
| WG1 | July 15 | Lei Peifan, Noppon Saengkham, David Gilbert, Elliot Slessor |
| WG2 | July 15 | Hossein Vafaei, Dylan Emery, Jak Jones, Zhang Anda |
Featured picture credit score: WST
