Ronnie O'Sullivan withdraws from Championship League snooker, unbeaten Pang Junxu and Long Zehuang win latest groups
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ByEurosport
Updated 07/07/2023 at 07:43 GMT
The Championship League – the season's first ranking event – will continue its second week of competition on Friday when Robert Milkins and Fan Zhengyi take to the table. Pang Junxu and Long Zehuang were the latest group winners on Thursday in Leicester with unbeaten displays in winning their respective groups. World No. 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan has been replaced by Michael Holt for Monday's action.
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Recent Crucible qualifier Pang Junxu dropped only one frame in winning Group 24 at the Championship League in Leicester.
He was joined in the last 32 by fellow Chinese professional Long Zehuang, who topped Group 7 with seven points in his debut event on the World Snooker Tour circuit.
World No. 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan was due to return to competitive action on Monday in a Group 1 that also contains Scott Donaldson, Rod Lawler and Alfie Burden, but has been replaced by former Shoot Out winner Michael Holt, according to the official tournament website.
It is unclear the reasons for the seven-time world champion's withdrawal as he becomes the latest player to pull out of the tournament with Neil Robertson doing likewise ahead of the opening day.
World champion Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, Mark Allen and John Higgins are all missing the Morningside Arena event.
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Watch best shots from the 2023 World Snooker Championship
WST Classic finalist Pang – who gave O'Sullivan a scare before losing 10-7 in the first round of the World Championship in April – completed wins over Stan Moody (3-0), Hammad Miah (3-1) and Wu Yize (3-1) to win his section with a maximum nine points on Thursday.
Long made short work of his first outing in an elite competition with victories over German Masters champion Ali Carter (3-1) and Ryan Davies (3-0) after an opening 2-2 draw with Welshman Jackson Page enough to seal his spot in the second phase later this month.
Robert Milkins and Fan Zhengyi take to the table on Friday as the second week of the first group phase continues.
The tournament carries total prize money of £328,000 with the final on Friday July 21 also worth a spot in the Champion of Champions in November.
Championship League latest group winners
- Group 3: Ashley Carty (Eng)
- Group 30: Daniel Wells (Wal)
- Group 11: Martin O'Donnell (Eng)
- Group 21: Chris Wakelin (Eng)
- Group 10: Michael White (Wal)
- Group 22: Robbie Williams (Eng)
- Group 5: Kyren Wilson (Eng)
- Group 29: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Tha)
- Group 6: Mark Williams (Wal)
- Group 27: Barry Pinches (Eng)
- Group 32: Xiao Guodong (Chn)
- Group 16: Ben Woollaston (Eng)
- Group 15: Matthew Stevens (Wal)
- Group 28: Anthony Hamilton (Eng)
- Group 17: Zhou Yuelong (Chn)
- Group 26: Jak Jones (Wal)
- Group 7: Long Zehuang (Chn)
- Group 24: Pang Junxu (Chn)
Championship League Stage 1
- June 26-30
- July 3-8
- July 10-14
Championship League Stage 2
- July 17-20
Championship Stage 3
- July 21
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