Mark Williams and Stephen Maguire crash out of Championship League

Mark Williams, Stephen Maguire, and Hossein Vafaei all suffered elimination at the second stage of the 2022 Snooker Championship League — the season’s first ranking event at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

Three-time world champion Mark Williams and former UK champion Stephen Maguire will no longer be part of the ongoing 2022 Championship League after they finished behind Group E winner Lu Ning.

Lu garnered a remarkable 129 break in a 3-1 victory over Maguire. He then managed breaks of 70, 61, and 94, which saw him see off Williams in a 3-0 win that shot him to the top of the section.

The 28-year-old Chinese snooker player required a point against Aaron Hill in his final group game to lead the section. And the game ended in a 2-2 draw with the Irish player, which made sure that he got seven points and emerged as the group winner.

In that game, Aaron Hill initially led 2-1 after compiling breaks of 66 and 73, but current world No. 34 Lu finished with a break of 82 to secure the draw he needed.

Meanwhile, Maguire had runs of 51 and 73 in a 3-0 win over Williams that proved to be a consolation as he finished second.

Mark Williams was also impressive in the match as he enjoyed breaks of 76, 61, and 133 in a 3-0 victory over Hill.

In other games, Hossein Vafaei was also eliminated as Lyu Haotian topped Group F.

Haotian, 24, secured a 2-2 draw against Jimmy Robertson, a 3-0 win against Hossein Vafaei, and a 3-1 victory over Michael Judge. The current world number 45 hit three breaks over 50 to finish three points ahead of Shoot Out winner Vafaei.

On Friday, Lu Ning and Lyu Haotian will return to action for the final day of the season’s first ranking event.

Written by: Collins Nwokolo