Mark Williams has advanced through to the Winners’ Group of this year’s Championship League after winning Group Five on Wednesday. The Welshman is enjoying a renaissance on the tour this season, as he won his first ranking event title since 2011 at the recent Northern Ireland Open, while he has also reached at least the quarter-final stage of five other tournaments.
The 42-year-old has continued his fine form during this week’s Championship League, as he finished third in the group behind Judd Trump and Ben Woollaston, winning four of his six matches. That was enough to secure the former world number one a place in the playoffs and he subsequently beat Woollaston 3-1 in the semi-finals, before seeing off Ricky Walden by the same score in the final to book his place in the Winners’ Group.
Williams, who is priced at 7/2 to go on and win the Championship League, will now face the likes of Zhou Yuelong, Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson, and Ali Carter when the Winners’ Group takes place at the end of March and it is also the third time he has made it beyond the round robin stage of the competition. Walden, Trump, Woollaston and Martin Gould will get another chance to join Williams in the next round as they will now participate in Group Six, however, it is the end of the road for Joe Perry and David Gilbert, who finished as the bottom two in the group.
Championship League Snooker odds available at Dafabet.