Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen survived a tortuous journey in icy conditions as he completed the last leg of his Berlin to Essex journey in a taxi with a flat tire, to leave himself well placed after day one of Championship League Snooker Group 5.
He enjoyed wins over Peter Ebdon, Mark Selby and Jamie Cope before succumbing to an on-fire Mark King in his final match of the evening. Allen’s haul of three points was the best of the day but he is closely followed by Cope, King and Barry Hawkins on two points each.
No one is out of the competition yet as play continues tomorrow. A supreme break of 142 from Ricky Walden puts him in line for the top break prize of £500.
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.
Each group winner then goes through to the final group on March 21st & 22nd where big money as well as a spot in the Sky Sports-televised Premier League Snooker is up for grabs. The two bottom players are eliminated from the competition, while the remaining four move forward to the next group to be joined by three new players.
Play continues tomorrow (Tuesday 7th) at 11.00am the remaining 11 round robin matches complete, followed by the play-offs.
Day 1 Results
Peter Ebdon 1-3 Mark Allen
71-15 (Ebdon 35), 7-103 (Allen 84), 31-116 (Allen 83), 0-76 (Allen 75)
Jamie Cope 0-3 Barry Hawkins
7-65 (Hawkins 31), 14-104 (Hawkins 84), 26-99 (Hawkins 91)
Ricky Walden 1-3 Mark King
25-70 (King 65), 76-39 (Walden 45), 0-75 (King 52), 0-64 (King 44)
Mark Selby 2-3 Mark Allen
85-36 (Selby 53), 17-106 (Allen 85), 0-132 (Allen 116), 59-48, 5-53 (Allen 45)
Mark Selby 1-3 Peter Ebdon
16-64 (Ebdon 37), 85-0 (Selby 33), 36-71 (Ebdon 71), 28-101 (Ebdon 101)
Mark Allen 3-2 Jamie Cope
96-0 (Allen 48), 85-0 (Allen 85), 24-64 (Cope 60), 70-76 (Allen 70, Cope 40), 70-8 (Allen 56)
Barry Hawkins 0-3 Ricky Walden
2-78 (Walden 78), 0-142 (Walden 142), 2-86 (Walden 44, 42)
Mark Selby 3-1 Mark King
22-66 (King 61), 125-8 (Selby 122), 59-17 (Selby 46), 118-23 (Selby 118)
Peter Ebdon 2-3 Jamie Cope
96-0 (Ebdon 96), 88-0 (Ebdon 87), 40-63 (Ebdon 35, Cope 39), 34-78 (Cope 78), 59-72 (Ebdon 59, Cope 64)
Barry Hawkins 3-1 Mark King
37-56 (King 34), 100-0 (Hawkins 100), 61-47 (Hawkins 41), 63-59 (King 30, Hawkins 55)
Mark Allen 2-3 Mark King
0-128 (King 128), 17-104 (King 103), 63-11 (Allen 30, 32), 64-0 (Allen 34), 0-88 (King 88)
Ricky Walden 0-3 Jamie Cope
0-94 (Cope 94), 12-81 (Cope 31, 34), 12-58.
Century breaks
142 - Ricky Walden v Barry Hawkins (6/2/12)
128 - Mark King v Mark Allen (6/2/12)
122 - Mark Selby v Mark King (6/2/12)
118 - Mark Selby v Mark King
116 - Mark Allen v Mark Selby (6/2/12)
103 - Mark King v Mark Allen (6/2/12)
101 - Peter Ebdon v Mark Selby (6/2/12)
100 - Barry Hawkins v Mark King (6/2/12)
Championship League Snooker Group 2 – Complete
Player | Ply | Won | Lost | For | Against | Pts | Prize Money | |
1 | Mark Allen | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 3 | £1,100 |
2 | Jamie Cope | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 2 | £800 |
3 | Mark King | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 2 | £800 |
4 | Barry Hawkins | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | £600 |
5 | Mark Selby | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 1 | £600 |
6 | Peter Ebdon | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 1 | £600 |
7 | Ricky Walden | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | £400 |
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