Fu delighted at advancing into Championship Winners' Group - 21/01/2010

MARCO Fu has set his sights on competing in the 2010 Premier League Snooker tournament after becoming the latest man to move one step away from qualifying.

Fu, who won the Premier League in 2003, defeated Neil Robertson 3-0 in the final to win Group Four of the qualifying event, Championship League Snooker. Hong Kong's Fu now advances to the Winners’ Group at the end of March where the overall champion will claim a spot in the Premier League in the Autumn.

“Everyone wants to play in the Premier League and it’s one of the biggest tournaments on the calendar,” said Fu. “You need to be a top player to play in the league and its special format makes it more unique. I’ve won the Premier League once before and it was one of the most important victories for me. It was my first title and I beat the top players like Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins.

Marco Fu is the winner of Group Four of the Championship League Snooker

“I played in the league last year but didn’t play very well and struggled throughout but hopefully I can play well in the Winners’ Group and get back into it.”

Fu made a stunning start to the group on Wednesday when he won his first two matches 3-0 as he whitewashed Group Three runner-up Mark Allen with breaks of 86, 133 and 120 before claiming a 3-0 victory over Ali Carter with further breaks of 144, 82 and 103.

Robertson defeated Fu 3-2 in the league phase but Fu gained revenge in the final as breaks of 59, 67, 70 and 66 helped him to a 3-0 victory.

Fu, who now joins Stephen Maguire, John Higgins, Judd Trump and three other players in the Winners’ Group at the end of March, added: “I’ve played very well this tournament. I’ve not played well this season so it’s been nice to get some match practice and play the top players.

“Winning is a habit so it’s been a good week for me, especially with the Welsh Open coming up soon.”

Played at Crondon Park Golf Club in rural Essex, Championship League Snooker is produced exclusively for live streaming on internet betting sites throughout the world. Seven players compete in a round-robin basis with the top four advancing to the semi-finals with the two winners meeting in the final.

The winner then advances into the Winners’ Group on March 24 and 25 where big money as well as a spot in the Sky Sports-televised Premier League Snooker is up for grabs.

Ali Carter and China’s Liang Wenbo finished in the bottom two places at the end of the league phase and are eliminated from the competition.

Group Five of the Championship League begins on Monday, February 8 with three new players – Jamie Cope, Dave Harold and Barry Hawkins – joining the competition.