John Higgins sets pace in Championship League snooker final winners’ group, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson in hunt

John Higgins finished day one of the Championship League final winners’ group by winning all three of his matches to set the pace at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

The four-time world champion enjoyed victories over Stuart Bingham (3-2), Mark Selby (3-1) and Joe O’Connor (3-0) to leave himself well-placed to qualify for the semi-finals of the invitational event on Wednesday evening.

Higgins missed out on the chance to scoop a whopping £395,000 by making a ‘golden 167’ break in Saudi Arabia last week after losing position on the final yellow, but looked right on form in Leicester with breaks of 64, 61, 53, 87, 70 and 96 boosting his prospects of a third-straight Championship League title and fifth in total.

Bingham, Neil Robertson, Selby and Kyren Wilson all have two points from their fixtures on Tuesday, with O’Connor on one point and Chris Wakelin yet to register after his opening three group matches.

The winner of the Championship League on Wednesday night takes the title and £10,000 and also earns a spot in the Champion of Champions later this year worth another £12,500 for qualification.