A brief news line for you on the Championship League as reported on The Snooker Blog as Group Two finalist Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the event to be replaced by Stuart Bingham, while there has also been a change concerning Mark Allen and Mark King…
Firstly, Ronnie O’Sullivan who displayed some terrific form during the second group stage before eventually losing out to Mark Williams at Crondon Park, has now withdrawn from the remainder of the event, citing personal reasons. While many will view it as a shame that O’Sullivan will not take his place when the action resumes this coming Monday, it is ultimately of little consequence for him as of course the former world number one will be in next year’s Premier League line-up in any case as the defending champion.
It does though give Stuart Bingham a way into the competition and he will be hoping to recapture the form that he demonstrated during the 2009 running of the event when he defeated John Higgins to win the fourth group before eventually losing out to Judd Trump in the semi-finals of the winner’s group.
The other change to the event is that Mark King, previously set to enter the tournament in the fourth group, will now play one group earlier in the third, switching places with Mark Allen who will now enter for group four. This is reported by The Snooker Blog as being due to problems that Allen has experienced with his cue tip.