Championship League Group Five

Martin Gould qualified for the winner's group after beating
Stephen Maguire 3-1 in the Group five final. Image: Eurosport

Martin Gould caused a surprise in the final of group five as defeated Stephen Maguire 3-1. The recent Snooker Shoot-Out winner found himself behind as a break of 75 put the Scot into an early lead but Gould won the next to square the scores. A superb break of 139 in the second, which was the highest of the group, put the Pinner Potter 2-1 up and he secured his spot in the winner’s group by winning frame four.

Gould had also come back from 1-0 down against Barry Hawkins to win his semi-final 3-1 earlier in the evening. Maguire meanwhile beat Ricky Walden in the other semi-final 3-0.

Maguire and Hawkins, who both won five out of their six group games, will be joined by Walden and Welshman Ryan Day who finished fifth in group six on Wednesday. Newcomers Joe Perry, who won the inaugural Championship League snooker back in 2008, and Peter Ebdon finished sixth and seventh respectively and are eliminated from the competition. The latter had a group to forget after he lost all six of his matches.

	Pld	Won	Lost	FW	FL	Pts	Money
Stephen Maguire	6	5	1	17	7	5	£1,700
Barry Hawkins	6	5	1	16	7	5	£1,600
Martin Gould	6	3	3	12	12	3	£1,200
Ricky Walden	6	3	3	11	11	3	£1,100
Ryan Day	6	3	3	10	12	3	£1,000
Joe Perry	6	2	4	12	15	2	£1,200
Peter Ebdon	6	0	6	4	18	0	£400