Robbo crowns superb three days - 25/01/2012

Australia’s Neil Robertson capped a fantastic few days as he followed up his BGC Masters win last Sunday with victory over Mark Selby to take Championship League Snooker Group 3 and secure a spot in the winners group which takes place in March.

His gritty display means he now joins Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy in the final group where they will be joined by four further players.

Earlier Selby had defeated Mark Davis in a scrappy match, the highlight being a 136 in the decider, while Robertson got the better of Matthew Stevens.

Robertson picks up £6,200 for winning the group while Selby earned £5,500 and will return tomorrow when Group Four convenes.

The £500 group high break prize went to Selby with a sparkling run of 142, made during his Monday match against Stephen Hendry.

The Championship League Snooker event is a venture between Matchroom Sport and Perform where 25 of the game's finest players compete with all matches broadcast on a host of betting websites.

Each group features seven players with each man playing the other six once in a round-robin basis. Every match is the best of five and the winner gaining a point. At the end of the league phase the top four advances to that group's semi-finals where the two winners meet in the final.

Players are awarded £100 per frame in the round robin stages, and this increases to £300 per frame for the play-offs. In addition, £3,000 goes to the play-off winner, £2,000 to the runner up and £1,000 each to the two semi-finalists.

Each group winner then goes through to the final group on March 21st & 22nd 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 Four to be joined by three new players.

Play continues tomorrow at 11.00am when Group 4 commences as Cope, Stevens, Davis and Selby are joined by Stephen Lee, Mark Allen and Peter Ebdon as 12 more league matches take place.