David Gilbert won a Group 12 deciding showdown with Duane Jones 3-1 to progress to the next phase of the BetVictor Championship League ranking event in Leicester, while Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan topped Group 19.
Former Championship League winner Gilbert swept to three wins out of three to edge out Welshman Jones. Gilbert opened with a 3-0 win over Paul Deaville, top scoring with 129. He then beat Louis Heathcote 3-1 with runs of 105, 139 and 77 to set up a decisive meeting with Jones.
Meanwhile, Jones prevailed 3-1 against Heathcote and 3-0 against Deaville to match Gilbert's results. With Gilbert leading 2-1 in the last game of the day, he fired in an 82 to win 3-1, move clear of Jones and top the group.
Lei beat Mateusz Baranowski 3-0 and Ryan Davies 3-1 to put himself in pole position to progress. He knew just a draw with Chinese compatriot Long Zehuang would see him through. Despite trailing 2-0, breaks of 120 and 54 saw him end the match level at 2-2.
The action continues tomorrow with former Crucible finalist Jak Jones and former European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson in action.
