Championship League 2012 - Ding in Winners' Group

Ding Junhui in Winners' Group

Last night saw Ding Junhui beat Tom Ford by 3-0 in order to grab the last of the remaining spots in this year's Championship League Winners' Group. The Chinese player made breaks of 88 and 127 to send home the player that qualified for the play-offs on first place.

Although Ding Junhui won't lose his Top 16 spot for sure in the next season, it is for the best to know you have an extra chance to play in the Premier League, the Chinese player putting the first brick to the road towards this competition by winning the final against Tom Ford.

The recent winner of the Welsh Open crown didn't have a very promising debut as he lost 3-2 in his first match played against Ryan Day, won the next one by a reversed 3-2 in front of Joe Perry, only to end his day with another loss, 3-1 against the man he'll beat in the final, Tom Ford.

However the last day consisted only in wins for the little Chinese player, a 3-1 against Peter Ebdon, followed by a 3-0 with Dominic Dale and a 3-2 over Marcus Campbell earning Ding no less than 4 points and a place in the play-offs.

Here, he met with the man he just beat in the last match, Scotland's Marcus Campbell, and the history repeated itself, this time in a more decisive way, as Ding beat Marcus 3-0.

This was also going to be the scoreline recorded in the final against Tom Ford, after the first frame, the Englishman being yet to pot a ball. A scrappy second frame saw Ding winning it by being just 13 points ahead, while the third one was secured with a brilliant 127.

And so Ding Junhui became the last player to grab a spot in the Winners' Group, where Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Mark Davis and Barry Hawkins are waiting.

Today, the final battles of cues begin, by the end of tomorrow the name of the player with a guaranteed place in this year snooker Premier League no longer being a mystery.

Today match schedule:

TABLE ONE (all times are approximate)
11am - Judd Trump v. Shaun Murphy
12.15pm - Barry Hawkins v. Mark Allen
Not before 2pm - Shaun Murphy v. Neil Robertson
3.15pm - Mark Allen v. Ding Junhui
Not before 6pm - Shaun Murphy v. Mark Davis
7.15pm - Neil Robertson v. Ding Junhui

TABLE TWO
11am - Neil Robertson v. Mark Davis
12.15pm - Ding Junhui v. Judd Trump
Not before 2pm - Mark Davis v. Barry Hawkins
3.15pm - Judd Trump v. Neil Robertson
Not before 6pm - Barry Hawkins v. Ding Junhui
7.15pm - Mark Allen v. Mark Davis
*all hours are UK time

Don’t' forget to keep an eye on www.sportlemon.tv  if you want to know how are the boys doing.