WOODLEY star Liam McTiernan proved once again why he was the pre-tournament favourite as the Kingfisher Grand Prix Series reached the three-quarter mark of week nine of the series.

The highly-rated England Man is almost certain to be crowned champion after another set of devastating performances which left the rest of the field once again trailing behind his superiority.

Nearest rival Daniel Moses was on holiday this week so former champion Hari Gehlot took full advantage by reaching the final, but despite taking the first set was no match for McTiernan thereafter, although the Hamilton Road veteran will be pleased with his improved performance.

He still has a live chance of finishing third in the overall table.

McTiernan’s semi-final opponent was Krasi Ivanov who he convincingly beat 3-0.

Ivanov had earlier dispatched rising junior Pranav Ghanta in the quarter final, with McTiernan comfortably seeing off Polish star Andy Yon in his quarter-final match up.

Gehlot defeated Didcot’s Lewis Waddup in his semi-final by a 3-1 scoreline.

Despite this result, Waddup still retains third place on the leaderboard, but will definitely be looking over his shoulder as the race for the cash prizes heats up with both Gehlot and Ivanov both closing in.

Waddup beat Rob Gladstone in the quarter final with Gehlot comfortably seeing off Pranav’s older sister Jyothi in his last-eight match.

Jyothi retains her position as top junior in the tournament after this result.

The consolation event this week was won by Caversham’s Joe Barraclough, who impressively beat Jyothi by a commanding 3-0 scoreline.

With the first two places on the leaderboard all but sealed, the race is most definitely on for third place with Waddup, Ivanov and Gehlot all very much in contention.

It will definitely make it an exciting climax to what has been an excellent and high quality summer tournament so far.