Higgins and Ronnie win three out of three on day one - 05/01/2011

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @MATCHROOM_SPORT

LATEST SCORES: F WILLIAMS 3-2 O'SULLIVAN

JOHN HIGGINS, who reached the semi-finals in the opening group of Championship League Snooker, is on course to make the final stages of group two.

Three victories in three matches – against Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and Ali Carter - have put the World No.1 in a good position for tomorrow’s concluding day.

Also, up there with three wins from three is Ronnie O’Sullivan who cracked in two centuries in his final 3-2 win over Shaun Murphy. One of those was a 138 clearance which put him in line for the £500 high break prize.

Topping the table though is Welshman Mark Williams with three wins from four starts. He leads the other two on frames scored.

At the opposite end of the table, Jamie Cope is already eliminated after a miserable day at Crondon Park, Essex. He managed to record just two frames in his favour and will be looking for some positive match practice ahead of his Masters first round tie against Shaun Murphy next week.

Filling the mid-table spots are Carter, Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy who are all in with a shout of making tomorrow evening’s semi-finals.

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.

Play continues tomorrow at 10.30am and there are a further nine league matches before the semi-finals and the final.

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.