Zhao Xintong Stunned in Stage One as Championship League Stage Two Line-Up Takes Shape

World Number Three Falls at the First Hurdle in Leicester

The biggest shock of Championship League Snooker's Stage One arrived on Thursday when Zhao Xintong, the world number three and pre-tournament favourite, was eliminated from the event at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester. The 2025 world champion had entered the competition as the highest-ranked player in the draw and the man most expected to be lifting a seventh career ranking title before the week was out. Instead, he'll be watching Stage Two from the sidelines after a dramatic final-day twist in Group 1.

Grace Does It the Hard Way

Zhao hadn't done a great deal wrong, to be fair to him. He opened with a 3-0 victory over Simon Blackwell — punctuated by a classy 140 total clearance — before following that up with a 3-1 win against Gao Yang. The problem was that solitary frame dropped against Gao Yang. It left the door fractionally ajar, and David Grace was sharp enough to step through it.

Grace had been utterly ruthless in his own matches, sweeping Blackwell and Gao Yang aside 3-0 on each occasion. That meant he arrived at the final round-robin fixture against Zhao needing just a draw to leapfrog the Chinese star on points. It's the sort of situation that can go one of two ways — and Grace, to his enormous credit, kept his nerve when it mattered most. Zhao edged in front twice during their clash, but Grace hauled it back to 2-2 to claim the draw he needed. Both players finished on seven points, but Grace claimed top spot by virtue of their head-to-head result, sending the favourite home early.

Surety Comes Up Trumps in Group 32

The drama wasn't limited to Group 1. Over in Group 32, Zak Surety and Matthew Selt served up their own nerve-shredding finale. Selt had won his first two matches and sat in pole position heading into the final round of fixtures — a draw against Surety would have been sufficient to see him through. Surety, however, had other ideas entirely.

The Englishman produced a magnificent 136 century break at the pivotal moment to seal a 3-1 win and snatch top spot from his compatriot. Selt was left on six points — just one behind Surety's seven — in what ended up being one of the tighter groups of the entire Stage One process. It was exactly the kind of clutch performance from Surety that suggests he'll be no pushover in Stage Two either.

Stage Two Groups — What to Expect

With Stages One now fully concluded, attention turns to the Stage Two group phase, which gets underway on Friday at the same Leicester venue. Grace and Surety — the two protagonists from Thursday's drama — will face each other again almost immediately, competing in Group A alongside Chinese pair Lei Peifan and Liu Hongyu. It's a fascinating dynamic: two players who've just come through pressure-cooker situations thrown straight back into competitive action with barely a night's rest.

Group B on Friday looks mouth-watering on paper. Luca Brecel — who, alongside Jack Lisowski, dominated his respective group earlier in the week — lines up alongside Hossein Vafaei, Pang Junxu, and Ian Burns. The Belgian world champion will be among the fancied names to go deep in this competition, and Friday should give us a much clearer read on his form and intent.

Saturday then brings Groups C and D into play, with reigning champion Stephen Maguire among those returning to the baize. Maguire will be targeting back-to-back Championship League titles — a formidable target, but one well within the Scotsman's capabilities given his recent form on the circuit.

The Bigger Picture

Zhao's exit is a genuine talking point. As a multiple ranking event winner and reigning world champion, he was the standout name in this year's draw, and his early departure reshapes the market considerably. It's a reminder of just how unforgiving the Championship League format can be — one frame here, one draw there, and even the very best in the game can find themselves on the outside looking in. For punters who had backed Zhao ante-post, it's a frustrating outcome. For the rest of the field, it's an opportunity.

With Stage Two now in full swing from Friday, the competition enters its most consequential phase. Keep an eye on Brecel in Group B — at current prices, he looks the most likely contender to fill the void left by Zhao's surprise exit.

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