Carter ends Championship League Snooker hoodoo - 27/01/2011

GROUP FIVE LATEST SCORES (FIRST TO 3)
TABLE ONE: RYAN DAY 3-2 LIANG WENBO
TABLE TWO: RICKY WALDEN 3-2 MARK KING

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Perennial Championship League Snooker contender Ali Carter has made it through to this year’s final group following a tidy 3-1 win over Northern Irishman Mark Allen at Crondon Park.

Having come so close to making the winners’ group on several occasions in the previous three runnings of this event, Chelmsford-based Carter has now shed his hoodoo and will be joining Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby when the final group plays out on March 23 and 24.

“I’ve been in the latter stages in groups of the Championship League so many times so it’s great to get the monkey off of my back and win one," said Carter.

“I’m very pleased as every group is very tough with so many good players in it – I’m delighted to get through. I went 2-0 up, it went 2-1, but he then made a good break so I felt I wasn’t destined to win but I stuck at it and tried to keep calm.

“This tournament is brilliant for me as I live only ten minutes down the road. I always just try to win every frame and there’s £100 for every frame you win so there’s lots to play for.

“Being in the Premier League would be massive for me and I’ve just missed out by the skin of my teeth in the last couple of seasons.

“Hopefully I would’ve already done enough as I won the Shanghai Masters but I need to win the Championship to put it beyond any doubt. It’s been very frustrating to not be picked for the Premier League as it’s a great tournament and all the players want to be in it.”

Earlier, Allen has coasted through his semi-final match against Matthew Stevens as breaks of 71, 93 and 131 made for a comfortable 3-0 win. Stevens had topped the group stages with five wins from six matches and will return for Group Five.

Carter had a hard-fought encounter with Marco Fu, coming from 2-1 down to clinch the spot in the final courtesy of a 63 break in the decider.

There are seven players competing in each Championship League Snooker Group and they each play the others once, with a point for a win. All matches are the best of five frames.

Coming in on Monday 28th February in Group Five will be Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo and Ricky Walden. They will be joined by Mark King, Marco Fu, Mark Allen and Matthew Stevens.

Players earn £100 per frame won. The top four players after the remainder of the group matches tomorrow then play in best of five semi-finals. The money increases to £300 per frame won and the winner receives £3,000, the runner-up £2,000 and the beaten semi-finalists £1,000 each.

The winner then goes through to the final group on March 23rd & 24th where big money as well as a spot in the Sky Sports-televised Premier League Snooker is up for grabs.

The two bottom players are eliminated from the competition, while the remaining four move forward to Group Three at the end of January to be joined by three new players.