Championship League Snooker Winner's Group - Day 2

Ding Junhui proudly holds his trophy after winning The 2012
Championship League following his 3-1 win over Judd Trump
in the final.

Ding Junhui booked his place in the 2012 Premier League after recording a 3-1 win over Judd Trump in the final of the winner’s group in Championship League snooker. Ding’s form of late has certainly been inconsistent: after winning the Welsh Open in February, he was dumped out of the first round of the World Open by wildcard round qualifier Lu Ning and was knocked out in the last 16 of the PTC Grand Finals by Mark Selby last week. However his form has swung once again after playing excellently in the Championship League this week, firstly winning group 7 and now of course the winner’s group. A 117 break in the first frame put Ding ahead but Trump fought back to level the scores in the final in a scrappier second frame. However, clearly full of confidence, Ding swept up the points when he was given chances in the third and fourth frames with breaks of 70 and 81 which will give him a confidence boost prior to the China Open which begins next week. Although disappointed with the defeat, Trump knew that his place in next season’s Premier League was already confirmed after his UK Championship win in December so will not be too downbeat after the defeat.

After finishing top of the league table with four wins to his name, Ding defeated Barry Hawkins 3-1 in the semi-finals who had snuck into the play-offs earlier in the day. Hawkins had won the first frame with an 84 break but Ding won the next two and scraped through the last frame by the tightest of scorelines: 57-56. The other semi-final saw Trump whitewash Mark Allen 3-0 but the Northern Irishman will at least be gladdened to receive a £1000 bonus for the highest break in the winner’s group for his 144 during his 3-1 defeat to Neil Robertson earlier in the day. The break was in fact the highest break to be recorded in this year’s Championship League.

The damage had already been done to Neil Robertson’s ambitions of finishing in the top four yesterday after his four defeats. A mini-revival saw him win both of his matches today over Allen and Hawkins but the Australian finished bottom of the table. It was also disappointment for Mark Davis who finished sixth and after finishing yesterday in fourth, two defeats for Shaun Murphy saw him finish fifth, missing out on the play-offs by frames won.

However, grinning from cheek to cheek, the winner Ding spoke of his delight in winning the Championship League after his defeat over Trump. He said: “He (Trump) had no luck in the last frame. He tried to open the pack but the red went in for a foul and I took my chance. It’s been good to play so many players this week.”

Ding also joked that eating a full English breakfast every morning at Crondon Park gave him the edge over the competition. “Every day I have a big English breakfast. I have to play all day so I need to keep my energy up!”

The final standing after day 2:

Pos / Name	Played	Won	Lost	Frames Won	Frames Lost	Money won	Pts
1. Ding Junhui	6	4	2	16	9	£3,200	4
2. Mark Allen	6	4	2	15	11	£3,000	4
3. Judd Trump	6	3	3	14	13	£2,800	3
4.Barry Hawkins	6	3	3	12	12	£2,400	3
5. Shaun Murphy	6	3	3	11	15	£2,200	3
6. Mark Davis	6	2	4	12	15	£2,400	2
7. Neil Robertson	6	2	4	10	15	£2,000	2