Chinese snooker player Liang Wenbo reaches last 16 at Championship League

LONDON - Chinese snooker player Liang Wenbo won three matches in a row including a victory over three-time world champion Mark Selby of Britain to reach the last 16 at the Championship League on Thursday.

Elite sport events were allowed to resume behind closed doors in Britain on Monday and snooker came back with the non-ranking event held at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, after being suspended for 11 weeks.

Liang, 34th in the world rankings, played his first-round group robin matches on Thursday. After beating Joe O'Connor and Lee Walker respectively, the 33-year-old Liang met Selby, his toughest rival in this group.

Liang dominated the match against the world number seven, defeating Selby 3-0 and progressing to the next round of the tournament.

"I enjoyed today," Liang told the World Snooker Tour website. "If I play like this, I will have a chance to win the tournament. I practiced for seven or eight days before coming here, after two and a half months off."

The 16 group winners will be re-grouped to determine the four players to compete in the finals. On Monday, world number one Judd Trump secured a place in the last 16 by winning three consecutive matches.

While most of the Chinese snooker professionals including ace Ding Junhui are still in China, Liang and Chen Feilong became the only Chinese players participating in the 64-man event.

World number 94 Chen ended his journey at Championship League after recording two draws and one loss in his first-round group matches on Wednesday.