The Champions League is a big upset again! Hawkins is still out unbeaten in three games, and Murphy and Lin Binfeng advanced to the round of 32

In the just-concluded World Snooker Champions League group round robin on July 13, 2023, Beijing time, "Magic" Shaun Murphy and British-Chinese player Lin Binfeng joined hands to advance to the round of 32.

In Group 4, Murphy competed in the same group as Padgett, Tian Pengfei and Clarks. As soon as the match began, Murphy beat Pagett 3-0 and Clay Cruz 3-1 to finish first in the group with six points. China's Tian Pengfei beat Clex and Padgett 3-1, putting him second in the group with six points.

In the final matchup, Murphy defeated Tian Pengfei 3-1 and scored three more points, winning all three games and accumulating 9 points to advance to the round of 32. On the other side, Lin Binfeng beat Zhang Anda 3-1, drew 2-2 with Hawkins and beat O'Neal 3-1 to advance with two wins and one draw.

Murphy won all three games and accumulated 9 points to advance to the round of 32

In Group 4, Murphy was favored as the ultimate promoter before the tournament because he was clearly the strongest presence. In the first two individual games of the group player, Murphy defeated Padgett 3-0 and Klax 3-1 to finish first in the group with six points.

In the same group, China's Tian Pengfei also performed well, beating Clarx and Padgett 3-1 to also score six points, but because he lost one more game than Murphy, he could only finish second.

The two players then entered a life-and-death battle, in which Murphy continued to show excellent form, defeating Tian Pengfei 3-1 and finishing first in the group with 9 points. Tian Pengfei ranked second with six points with two wins and one loss, Clex ranked third with one win and two losses, and Padgett was bottom.

Lin Binfeng scored 7 points with two wins and one draw

In Group 12, Hawkins and Zhang Anda were favored as the finalists before the match. But after entering the game, the performance of these two players was not very satisfactory. In Hawkins' first two matches, he beat O'Neal 3-1 and then drew 2-2 with Lin Binfeng, which also put him in the first place with Lin Binfeng with four points in the group.

Zhang Anda finished second with three points from a 1-3 defeat to Lin Binfeng and a 3-1 defeat to O'Neal. And that means the three players will decide the winner in the final match. In the final match, Hawkins drew 2-2 with Anda Chang, while Lin Binfeng beat O'Neal 3-1.

Under such circumstances, Lin Binfeng ranked first in the group with 7 points from two wins and one draw, and Hawkins ranked second with 5 points from one win and two draws. China's Zhang Anda ranked third with four points from one win, one draw and one loss, while O'Neill finished fourth after losing all three games.

Murphy is hot and becomes the best performer

Of the eight men in Groups 4 and 12, Murphy was the only player who maintained his best touch. Murphy's 3-0 victory over Padgett in Murphy's opening game may not have come as a surprise to fans, but it took Murphy less than 40 minutes to win those three games.

Objectively speaking, it is a very efficient game. Immediately after, Murphy got stuck in the second game because Klax caused him some trouble. But the experienced Murphy quickly crushed Cloakes with his excellent play and perfect tactics, and eventually won again with a 3-1 scoreline.

After entering the final game, Murphy's condition was significantly better than that of Tian Pengfei. You know, Tian Pengfei did not fight a long platform in the last game, and Murphy's accuracy was very terrifying. Objectively speaking, Murphy is in either of these two groups, and he has the ability to qualify, because he is indeed in good shape.