Tonight we will know the name of the 2009 Championship League winner who will join Ronnie O’Sullivan and five other players in next season’s Premier League competition. Click below for the latest…
To view the latest scores and group standings, please click here to visit Matchroom Sport.
I will provide some updates on the play throughout the day but I will not be at the computer for the full day so not all matches will be covered.
11am/12:30pm
Following a surprising defeat to Stuart Bingham last night for John Higgins, his match with Mark Selby (who had also lost a match yesterday), suddenly became crucial. Though John managed to take the opener with a break of 80, Mark really turned on the style after that and completed a significant 3-1 victory with a break of 145, the highest of his career to date. Though John came back from 2-0 down to take a point off Joe Perry, he remains in trouble and really need a heavy victory over Mark Allen.
Elsewhere Allen himself kept his hopes alive with a victory over Mark King who now cannot qualify for the semi-finals, while the two form players of the group Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump shared a 2-2 draw.
With five matches to go things are getting very interesting…
2pm
Mark Selby has picked up where he left off earlier, starting off his match against Mark King with breaks of 132 and 78 to lead 2-0 and as far as I can tell, secure his place in the semi-finals. Mark Allen meanwhile is continuing to fight well, taking the opener against Judd Trump (who he defeated in the Masters recently), to lead 1-0…though Judd Trump has now taken the second to bring himself level.
King had a chance in frame three but Selby steps in again and clears with 69 to move to the top of the table on eight points, can anyone stop him in this form? Not King that’s for sure as a 44 break gives Selby a 4-0 win.
Mark Allen has secured at least a point against Judd with a break of 77 but he really needs to take the final frame to give himself a real chance…and he can’t, Judd denies him with an excellent break of 113 to share the points.
This all means that the clash between John Higgins and Mark Allen is now a must-win match for both players, preferably by a scoreline of 4-0. The loser will definitely go home and if it is a draw, both will be unable to make the semi-finals. Even the winner will be relying on Joe Perry slipping up against Mark King now…
3:30pm
Needing just a draw to confirm his semi-final place, defending champion Joe Perry has a lead of 14 points with 22 on the table in the opening frame of his match with Mark King right now…and in goes brown and blue, 1-0 it is.
First chance in the second frame goes to Joe but with a 31-0 lead he has broken down and Mark has a chance to put some points on the board…he can only make 42 and now Joe is in with a chance to book his semi-final place and make the Higgins/Allen clash meaningless…and he does. The only issue to be settled now is who will play who in the semis later this evening…
Fair play to Mark, he’s done well to make an 84 in the final frame and take only his second point of the group.
Though he is out of the tournament, John Higgins has finished off his day’s work with a whitewash of Mark Allen to ensure that he will finish 5th in the group. He will be disappointed not to have qualified for the semi-finals though and it shows you just how high the standard is.
In the final match of the group, Mark Selby takes on Stuart Bingham to sort out who will play who in the semis. With a 2-0 lead Mark has ensured that he will finish top and as it stands face fourth placed Bingham again in the semis, but if Stuart can pull a couple of frames back here then the situation will change…
Well Stuart has pulled one back and that is enough to send him through to face Judd Trump in the semis, while Mark Selby comes up against Joe Perry in a repeat of last year’s final…
Semi-finals:
Mark Selby v Joe Perry
Judd Trump v Stuart Bingham
Having started with breaks of 81, 57 and 43, Stuart Bingham looked to be in an excellent position to move into the final but Judd Trump has responded in brilliant style with runs of 90 and 133 to force a deciding frame.
The going is somewhat slower in the other match though, Mark Selby and Joe Perry level at 1-1 and having hardly got going in frame three yet. Selby will surely be the happier though having taken the opening frame having needed two snookers.
The balls are now well-spread in the Trump/Bingham match, whoever pots the first red here is going to find themselves with an excellent opportunity to score…and that man is Trump, can he finish it off in one visit?
No he cannot, he has broken down on 37 and following a doubled red to the right centre pocket, Stuart puts him in a nasty snooker behind the green.
Joe Perry meanwhile has made a 65 break and barring a snooker from Selby, will go into the lead at 2-1.
What a stroke of luck for Stuart, having narrowly missed an attempt at a red, it looked like he would leave Judd in with a chance for frame and match, but fortunately for him, the cue ball finished almost touching a red and somehow left him without a pot on. With all the colours in the open and the reds nice spread, the tension is mounting…
Well could we have a twist, Judd was in and needed just a red and a colour for a place in the final, but unbelievably he has gone in-off the red into the left-centre pocket and given Stuart a reprieve. He has it all to do though as the remaining reds have gone awkward…
Over on the other table, they are still playing frame three as for the second time in this match, Mark Selby has got the snookers he has needed and can now win the frame…though he has come awkwardly on the final pink and Perry might just get another shot…he will, Mark misses the black for the frame. Having left Joe with another great opportunity, it looked like he would regret it but again Joe has been unable to take it and Mark finally knocks in the black for 2-1. Having lost two frames in the manner that he has, I would be very surprised to see Joe come back from here…
Judd Trump meanwhile now finds himself 50 ahead with just 35 remainining and looks to have completed a memorable comeback. And he has, what an opportunity for him now and he awaits the winner of the other semi-final.
Fair play to Joe Perry, despite what has happened so far he is fighting on and on a break of 39 and counting in frame four. Having just disturbed the reds, it looks to be an excellent opportunity to force a decider. But he has missed a pink on 48 and the chance falls to Selby. Can he steal a third frame now? It looks like a lot will depend on the one safe red over on the cushion by the left-centre pocket…but he has missed the penultimate red and following a safety exchange, has given Joe another chance to level it, which he has taken barring Selby getting a couple of snookers for the third time in this match. 2-2 it is.
Unfortunately I had to go out and missed the deciding frame but Mark Selby appears to have won it following a scrappy fifth frame and will face Judd in the final.
Final
The first big chance goes to Selby who manages to put a 52 point lead together, but Judd is now in with a chance to counter and is already up to 29 with three reds remaining. Though he could not take the frame in one visit, he makes no mistake later, aided by an absolutely breathtaking shot on the final yellow. With the white tight on the left side-cushion above the middle pocket, he hammered in a yellow down by a pink spot into the opposite corner, then followed through off two cushions to come back up perfectly for the green! Absolutely stunning and he deserved to win the frame just for that.
Good response from Mark in frame two, no big breaks but barring a snooker he should be level at 1-1. And now it is 2-1 following a wild miss from Judd which leaves Selby in to make yet another century today, this time 121.
Still, Judd has come back from worse today, he is still right in this one…and he is in with the first chance in frame four but can make only 23…and now Selby is in with not a difficult ball on the table. Early days but this could be 3-1 and a place in the Premier League coming up…but on 31 it has gone wrong an an attempt to recover the situation with a long pink to the green pocket goes wrong. Can Judd punish him? He can indeed and we are into a deciding frame…
Having seen Judd go in-off when attempting to pot a red, Mark managed to get in with the first chance but could only make nine. Judd has now drilled in another terrific long-red and we will see if he can do any better…well with a great split on the reds on 44 it’s beginning to look ominous for Mark who has had his chances to win but can only watch and hope now…and it looks like Trump has done it, a break of 64 leaving Mark needing two snookers if he is to turn this around and avoid losing in the final for the second consecutive season.
And Trump has done it! Judd has won the 2009 Championship League and will now be in next season’s Premier League as a result, brilliant stuff for the 19-year-old.