Championship League snooker: Ashley Carty goes through as Neil Robertson crashes out

Robertson out as Carty springs surprise

Neil Robertson expressed his relief at finally being able to return to a competitive snooker table despite crashing out of the Championship League.

The former world champion lost his opening match 3-1 to world number 83 Ashley Carty, and was eliminated from the tournament after drawing his subsequent game 2-2 with Ken Doherty, before finishing with a 3-1 victory over Kurt Maflin.

Robertson admitted the event, which is being played behind closed doors amid strict social distancing protocols, presents motivational issues despite the long break from competition.

Robertson said: "It would be very strange to play in this format for an actual [bigger] event, so that's where the adjustment is going to take place.

"But playing in this I am perfectly happy to experiment and adjust to how we are going to be moving forward over the next couple of months.

"Probably under normal circumstances one month into the season I would have won the first three frames pretty comfortably. There's a little bit of rustiness but it's just about getting used to the feeling of how it is."

Carty went on to win Group 16, finally getting the better of Doherty 3-1 in a winner-takes-all finale in which both players struggled to find anything like the form they had shown all day.

Hawk finally takes flight

Barry Hawkins hinted that his disappointing season to date might finally be about to enjoy an upturn in fortunes as he topped Group 7 with three encouraging displays.

Hawkins has been a mainstay of snooker's top 16 for a number of years but finds his place in snooker's elite under pressure having only made it as far as the quarter-finals stage in two ranking events this term.

However, he looked much more like his old self as booked his place in the next stage with convincing whitewashes of Craig Steadman and Hammad Miah, and a 2-2 draw with Anthony McGill.

Despite finishing undefeated on the day himself, McGill had to settle for second spot in the group.

Sunday's results and standings

Group 16

1. Ashley Carty (Q) P 3 W 2 L 0 D 1 FD +4 Pts 7
2. Neil Robertson P 3 W 1 L 1 D 1 FD 0 Pts 4
3. Ken Doherty P 3 W 1 L 0 D 2 FD 0 Pts 4
4. Kurt Maflin P 3 W 0 L 2 D 1 FD -4 Pts 1

Neil Robertson 1-3 Ashley Carty

Kurt Maflin 1-3 Ken Doherty

Kurt Maflin 2-2 Ashley Carty

Neil Robertson 2-2 Ken Doherty

Ken Doherty 1-3 Ashley Carty

Neil Robertson 3-1 Kurt Maflin

Group 7

1. Barry Hawkins (Q) P 3 W 2 L 0 D 1 FD +6 Pts 7
2. Anthony McGill P 3 W 1 L 0 D 2 FD +2 Pts 5
3. Hammad Miah P 3 W 1 L 2 D 0 FD -2 Pts 3
4. Craig Streadman P 3 W 0 L 2 D 1 FD -6 Pts 1

Anthony McGill 2-2 Craig Steadman

Barry Hawkins 3-0 Hammad Miah

Barry Hawkins 3-0 Craig Steadman

Anthony McGill 3-1 Hammad Miah

Barry Hawkins 2-2 Anthony McGill

Craig Steadman 0-3 Hammad Miah

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