Emery and Xu Si Make Winning Starts as Kyren Wilson's Championship League Campaign Ends Before It Began
A Burglar's Raid Casts a Shadow Over Day One in Leicester
The 2026/27 snooker season got under way on Monday at the Championship League Snooker in Leicester, but before a single frame had been completed the day's narrative had already been written for the wrong reasons. Kyren Wilson, the 2024 World Champion, withdrew from the event after burglars broke into his Kettering home and stole personal items — including cash that had been set aside for charity. Wilson took to social media to release a statement, appealing for any information that might help recover the stolen goods. It was a grim start to what should have been a celebratory occasion: the opening ranking event of a brand-new season.
Wilson had already beaten Haydon Pinhey in his first round-robin match before the withdrawal was confirmed. With the Kettering man gone, Group 3 was reduced to three players and that earlier result against Pinhey was struck from the standings entirely. It left a slightly hollow feel to proceedings, though the snooker itself still had plenty to offer.
Emery Does Enough in Disrupted Group
Into that reshaped Group 3 stepped Dylan Emery, and the Welshman made the most of the circumstances without ever being forced to hit top gear. Emery opened with a composed win over Polish teenager Michal Szubarczyk, then shared a 2-2 draw with Pinhey before receiving a walkover 3-0 result against Wilson. That combination proved enough to see him top the group on seven points and book his place in Stage Two.
Pinhey, to his credit, pushed hard until the very end. A win in his final match of the day against Szubarczyk would have levelled things up at the top, but the pair drew 2-2, leaving the Englishman just short. It is that sort of fine margin — a single frame here or there — that defines the Championship League format, where the round-robin structure ensures every frame carries genuine weight from the very first visit to the table.
Xu Si Steady in a Tight Group 24
If Emery's group was shaped by external drama, Group 24 was simply close, competitive snooker from start to finish. All four players ended the day within a couple of points of one another, but it was Xu Si who emerged as the standout performer — and crucially, the only player in the group to go unbeaten throughout the day.
The Chinese professional opened with a solid 3-1 victory over Craig Steadman before picking up draws against both Julien Leclercq and Michael Holt. In another format, two draws might feel like a slight wobble; in this one, remaining undefeated across three matches was exactly the kind of consistency required. Holt, a former world top-ten player with considerable experience of this kind of pressure format, will know he had his chances — but Xu held firm.
Xu and Emery now move into Stage Two, which will bring together all 32 group winners from Stage One. Thirty more groups remain to be decided before that next phase begins, with two further groups scheduled for Tuesday.
What Comes Next
Ryan Day leads the field in Group 27 on Tuesday, joined by Chang Bingyu, Jamie Clarke and Phil O'Kane, while Group 2 features Ian Burns and Steven Hallworth alongside amateurs Jamie O'Neill and Jeff Cundy — a reminder that the Championship League remains one of the few ranking events where the game's weekend warriors can share a table with established professionals.
The event runs through to 15th July, with the overall winner collecting £33,000 in prize money and ranking points. Perhaps more temptingly for some, they will also earn a coveted invitation to the Champion of Champions later in the year — a high-profile invitational that sits outside the ranking calendar but carries enormous prestige.
Live coverage of the Championship League Snooker is available for UK and Irish viewers via the Matchroom Multi Sport and Matchroom Pool YouTube channels. For Wilson, the priority right now is clearly far removed from snooker. The rest of the tour will hope those stolen belongings — particularly the charity funds — find their way home.
