Robertson, Ebdon and Williams in latest Championship group - 08/02/2010

AUSTRALIAN Neil Robertson heads the line-up as Championship League Snooker returns on Monday.

Robertson, who turns 28 on Thursday, is ranked third in the provisional world rankings and won his fourth major title late last year when he claimed the Grand Prix trophy. This will be Group Five of the Championship and Robertson will be looking to go one better than Group Four, where he lost in the final to Marco Fu.

The Championship League, which is broadcast live on a number of betting websites, acts as a qualifier for Matchroom Sport’s Premier League Snooker competition. Seven players compete in a round-robin basis over the best-of-five matches with the winner gaining one point and the loser zero. The top four players at the end of the league phase advance to the semi-finals with the winners meeting in a final.

Whoever wins the final will advance to the Winners’ Group, while the beaten finalist, losing semi-finalists and man finishing fifth get another chance as they move into Group Six.

However, the two players who finish in the bottom two spots will be eliminated with three new players joining in Group Six.

Neil Robertson lost in the final of Group 4

Two former World Champions – Peter Ebdon and Mark Williams – will also be in Group Five, as will 2008 Shanghai Masters Champion Ricky Walden.

Barry Hawkins, Jamie Cope and Dave Harold, who are all ranked inside the top 19 on the world rankings, will also be competing.

Mark Allen, who was scheduled to be taking part in this group, was unavailable so will re-enter the event in Group Six.

Group Five
Monday, February 8 and Tuesday, February 9
Neil Robertson, Peter Ebdon, Mark Williams, Barry Hawkins, Jamie Cope, Dave Harold, and Ricky Walden.

FIXTURES BY TABLE
GROUP FIVE - DAY ONE - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8
TABLE ONE (all times are approximate)
11am - Neil Robertson v Mark Williams
12.15pm - Barry Hawkins v Jamie Cope
Not before 2pm - Mark Williams v Peter Ebdon
3.15pm - Jamie Cope v Dave Harold
Not before 6pm - Mark Williams v Ricky Walden
7.15pm - Peter Ebdon v Dave Harold

TABLE TWO (all times are approximate)
11am - Peter Ebdon v Ricky Walden
12.15pm - Dave Harold v Neil Robertson
Not before 2pm - Ricky Walden v Barry Hawkins
3.15pm - Neil Robertson v Peter Ebdon
Not before 6pm - Barry Hawkins v Dave Harold
7.15pm - Jamie Cope v Ricky Walden

GROUP FIVE - DAY TWO - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9
TABLE ONE (all times are approximate)
11am - Neil Robertson v Jamie Cope
12.15pm - Ricky Walden v Dave Harold
Not before 2pm - Mark Williams v Dave Harold
3.15pm - Peter Ebdon v Barry Hawkins
Not before 6.30pm - Play-off first v fourth
7.45pm - Final

TABLE TWO (all times are approximate)
11am - Mark Williams v Barry Hawkins
12.15pm - Peter Ebdon v Jamie Cope
Not before 2pm - Neil Robertson v Barry Hawkins
3.15pm - Mark Williams v Jamie Cope
4.30pm - Neil Robertson v Ricky Walden
Not before 6.30pm - Play-off second v third