DING JUNHUI won the annual Championship League Snooker tournament, beating previous winner Judd Trump 3-1 in the final and to book a coveted place in this year’s Premier League which gets underway in August.
The 24 year-old Chinese had earlier won the seventh and final qualifying group of the event on Wednesday and like Trump and Matthew Stevens who had completed the same feat in previous years, he then triumphed in the final champions group.
“I’m very pleased to have won this. It’s always good to win but chances to qualify for the Premier League were running out with just Beijing and Sheffield to go. It’s great match practice and my form over the four days this week was good,” said Ding.
The Final
Judd Trump 1-3 Ding Junhui
0-131 (Ding 117), 72-15 (Trump 42), 10-70 (Ding 70), 5-86 (Ding 81)
Semi Finals
Ding Junhui 3-1 Barry Hawkins
0-84 (Hawkins 52), 69-1 (Ding 52), 71-9 (Ding 36 & 31), 57-56 (Hawkins 56)
Judd Trump 3-0 Mark Allen
0-83 (Trump 58), 73-59 (Trump 45 & 33), 83-6 (Trump 53)
Ding won the final with breaks of 117, 70 and 80 but that was just the tip of the iceberg as he looked razor sharp throughout and scored heavily at most opportunities.
Earlier he had beaten surprise semi-finalist Barry Hawkins who himself was in fine form to battle through the group stage. Trump had defeated Mark Allen in the other semi-final.
Played out at Crondon Park Golf Club in rural Essex, Ding had arrived at the venue early each day to take advantage of a full English breakfast, something he has developed a taste for.
“It’s the perfect start to the day, especially in a demanding tournament like this where you are playing off and on from morning until mid-evening,” he revealed.
Ding now heads home to Beijing to compete in the China Open which commences next week.
The Championship League Snooker event is a venture between Matchroom Sport and Perform where 25 of the game's finest players compete with all matches broadcast on a host of betting websites.
Each group features seven players with each man playing the other six once in a round-robin basis. Every match is the best of five and the winner gaining a point. At the end of the league phase the top four advances to that group's semi-finals where the two winners meet in the final.
Players are awarded £100 per frame in the round robin stages, and this increases to £300 per frame for the play-offs. In addition, £3,000 goes to the play-off winner, £2,000 to the runner up and £1,000 each to the two semi-finalists.
In the final ‘Champions’ Group, the frame money escalates to £200 and then £300 for the winner, with the champion netting £10,000, the runner-up £5,000 and the semi-finalists £3,000.
Day 2 Results
Judd Trump 1-3 Mark Allen
69-27 (Trump 65), 1-92 (Allen 58), 54-70 (Trump 54, Allen 70), 36-81 (Trump 36, Allen 81)
Shaun Murphy 0-3 Barry Hawkins
4-110 (Hawkins 110), 42-73 (Hawkins 48), 24-70 (Hawkins 61)
Ding Junhui 3-1 Mark Davis
92-1 (Ding 92), 4-82 (Davis 50), 93-19 (Ding 57 & 33), 79-42 (Robertson 38)
Neil Robertson 3-1 Mark Allen
93-0 (Robertson 93), 90-9 (Robertson 90), 0-148 (Allen 144), 113-0 (Robertson 113)
Shaun Murphy 3-2 Ding Junhui
30-101 (Ding 87), 77-1 (Murphy 36), 55-54 (Ding 53), 0-80 (Ding 80), 67-21 (Murphy 51)
Judd Trump 2-3 Barry Hawkins
68-57 (Hawkins 57, Trump 53), 104-39 (Hawkins 39, Trump 104), 0-134 (Hawkins 110), 0-115 (Hawkins 115), 45-56 (Trump 45, Hawkins 56)
Neil Robertson 3-2 Barry Hawkins
9-122 (Hawkins 122), 20-86 (Hawkins 83), 106-0 (Robertson 106), 64-37 (Robertson 35),75-30 (Robertson 46)
Shaun Murphy 1-3 Mark Allen
71-55 (Allen 37, Murphy 30& 40), 1-60 (Allen 32), 57-67 (Murphy 42, Allen 41), 25-71 (Allen 71)
Judd Trump 2-3 Mark Davis
75-36 (Trump 63), 79-29 (Trump 48 & 31), 0-77 (Davis 77), 55-76 (Davis 57), 43-67 (Davis 56)
Century breaks
144 - Mark Allen v Neil Robertson (22/3/12)
142 - Ding Junhui v Barry Hawkins (21/3/12)
128 - Mark Davis v Barry Hawkins (21/3/12)
127 - Neil Robertson v Shaun Murphy (21/3/12)
122 - Barry Hawkins v Neil Robertson (22/3/12)
117 - Ding Junhui v Judd Trump (23/3/12)
115 - Barry Hawkins v Judd Trump(22/3/12)
113 - Neil Robertson v Mark Allen(22/3/12)
110 - Barry Hawkins v Shaun Murphy(22/3/12)
110 - Barry Hawkins v Judd Trump(22/3/12)
106 - Neil Robertson v Barry Hawkins (22/3/12)
104 - Ding Junhui v Judd Trump(21/3/12)
104 - Judd Trump v Barry Hawkins(22/3/12)
102 - Ding Junhui v Mark Allen(21/3/12)
101 - Judd Trump v Neil Robertson(21/3/12)
100 - Mark Davis v Mark Allen(21/3/12)
Championship League Snooker Final Group
Player | Ply | Won | Lost | For | Against | Pts | Prize Money | |
1 | Ding Junhui | 6 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 4 | £3,200 |
2 | Mark Allen | 6 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 4 | £3,000 |
3 | Judd Trump | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 3 | £2,800 |
4 | Barry Hawkins | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 3 | £2,400 |
5 | Shaun Murphy | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 3 | £2,200 |
6 | Mark Davis | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 2 | £2,400 |
7 | Neil Robertson | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 2 | £2,000 |
Notes: Championship League Snooker is a joint venture between Matchroom Sport and Perform Group. Taking place from January to March, the event features 25 of the world’s best players and is streamed exclusively to 17 major betting sites around the world.
2012 Championship League Snooker - Participating Betting Sites
188 Bet – Asia
Bet365 – Worldwide
Betathome – Central and Eastern Europe
Betfair – UK, Ireland and Southern Europe
Fortuna - Central and Eastern Europe
Fonbet – Eastern Europe
Hititbet – Southern Europe
12bet – Asia -
NordicBet – Nordics
Paddy Power – UK, Ireland
Paris Mutual Urbain – France
Sportingbet – Mainland Europe
Stan James – UK, Ireland
TrioBet – CEE
Unibet – Europe
VivaroBet – CEE
William Hill – UK, Ireland, Australia