Ronnie O'Sullivan withdraws from Championship League snooker, unbeaten Pang Junxu and Long Zehuang win latest groups

Recent Crucible qualifier Pang Junxu dropped only one frame in winning Group 24 at the Championship League in Leicester. He was joined in the last 32 by fellow Chinese professional Long Zehuang, who topped Group 7 with seven points in his debut event on the World Snooker Tour circuit. Ad World No.

1 Ronnie O'Sullivan was due to return to competitive action on Monday in a Group 1 that also contains Scott Donaldson, Rod Lawler and Alfie Burden, but has been replaced by former Shoot Out winner Michael Holt, according to the official tournament website. SnookerJones maintains impressive Crucible form at Championship LeagueYESTERDAY AT 08:33 It is unclear the reasons for the seven-time world champion's withdrawal as he becomes the latest player to pull out of the tournament with Neil Robertson doing likewise ahead of the opening day. World champion Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, Mark Allen and John Higgins are all missing the Morningside Arena event.

WST Classic finalist Pang – who gave O'Sullivan a scare before losing 10-7 in the first round of the World Championship in April – completed wins over Stan Moody (3-0), Hammad Miah (3-1) and Wu Yize (3-1) to win his section with a maximum nine points on Thursday. Long made short work of his first outing in an elite competition with victories over German Masters champion Ali Carter (3-1) and Ryan Davies (3-0) after an opening 2-2 draw with Welshman Jackson Page enough to seal his spot in the second phase later this month. Robert Milkins and Fan Zhengyi take to the table on Friday as the second week of the first group phase continues.