Stephen Maguire, Tom Ford and Ricky Walden chase Championship League trophy as first ranking title of season set to be settled in Leicester

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Ranking event winners Stephen Maguire, Ricky Walden, Matthew Selt and Tom Ford are among the eight men bidding to claim the Championship League trophy at Leicester's Mattioli Arena on Wednesday. Ford and Ben Mertens claimed the last two places in the final stage on Tuesday with Ford hitting two centuries in topping Group H and Belgian potter Mertens winning Group G, boosted by a vital ton.

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The first ranking event of the new snooker season is set to be settled on Wednesday night, with eight players in the frame to claim the Championship League trophy in Leicester.

Tom Ford and Ben Mertens became the last two players to qualify for the final stage at the city's Mattioli Arena by winning their respective sections on Tuesday.

Ford will face fellow Leicester potter Joe O'Connor, Xu Si and Ricky Walden in Group 1 from midday, with Group 2 seeing Mertens join Stephen Maguire, Matthew Selt and Pang Junxu in competing for a spot in the final.

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Shoot Out champion Ford is in fine form after producing two centuries of 131 and 132 in securing seven points to top Group H with wins over Wu Yize (3-1) and Liu Wenwei (3-0) and a 2-2 draw with former Masters and UK Championship winner Matthew Stevens, who finished two points behind top spot.

Belgian hopeful Ben Mertens also edged through to the final day of action via a 3-0 win over Yao Pengchang and a 2-2 draw with Sam Craigie.

Despite losing 3-0 to Amir Sarkhosh, Mertens went through as group winner courtesy of the 111 highest break he made against Yao, with all four players finishing on four points with identical frame differences.

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The Championship League runs between June 30 and July 23, with 32 groups of four producing 32 winners, who are then split into eight groups of four.

The winners of the final groups contest the final on Wednesday, with the champion earning £33,000 and a place in the Champion of Champions event in Leicester in November.

Championship League group winners

Group A: Joe O'Connor (Eng)
Group B: Stephen Maguire (Sco)
Group C: Pang Junxu (Chn)
Group D: Xu Si (Chn)
Group E: Ricky Walden (Eng)
Group F: Matthew Selt (Eng)
Group G: Ben Mertens (Bel)
Group H: Tom Ford (Eng)

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