2019 Championship League

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Championship League
Tournament information
Dates1 January – 14 March 2019 (2019-01-01 – 2019-03-14)
VenueRicoh Arena and Barnsley Metrodome
CityCoventry and Barnsley
CountryEngland
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£177,500
Winner's share£10,000
Highest breakEngland David Gilbert (147)
Final
ChampionEngland Martin Gould
Runner-upEngland Jack Lisowski
Score3–1
← 2018
Ricoh Arena (Coventry)

The 2019 Championship League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, taking place from 1 January to 14 March 2019 at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry (Group 1–6) and at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley (Group 7 and the Winners' Group), both in England.[1][2] It was the 12th staging of the tournament.

David Gilbert made the historic 147th maximum break in his group 5 round robin match against Stephen Maguire.[3] It was Gilbert's second professional maximum break (he achieved his first in the 2015 Championship League), and it was the sixth consecutive year that a maximum was made in the Championship League.

During the round robin matches, Neil Robertson recorded his 600th career century in Group 1, and Ding Junhui his 500th in Group 7. And during the Winners' Group round robin matches, John Higgins made his 750th career century break, and Judd Trump also recorded his 600th.

John Higgins was a two-time defending champion, having retained his 2017 title with a 3–2 victory against Zhou Yuelong in the 2018 final.[4] However, Higgins lost 3–0 to Martin Gould in the semi-finals.

Martin Gould went on to win his second Championship League title, beating Jack Lisowski 3–1 in the final.[5]

Tournament Format[]

The Championship League event sees 25 professionals (including substitutes; 28 players in 2019) take part, with players earning prize money for every frame won. Matches are best of 5 frames, and the league is played from January to March 2019.

The competition runs over eight groups, each consisting of seven players. From each group the top four qualify for a play-off, and the winners of the first seven play-offs qualify for the winners group. The bottom two players of each group are eliminated and the remaining four move to the next group, where they are joined by three more players until the seventh group. The winners play in the final group, and the winner of the Winners' Group play-off takes the title and a place at the 2019 Champion of Champions.

Prize fund[]

The breakdown of prize money for the 2019 Championship League is shown below.[6]

  • Tournament total: £177,500

Group 1[]

Group 1 was played on 1 and 2 January 2019. Neil Robertson was the first player to qualify for the Winners' Group, recording his 600th career century in the round-robin match against Anthony Hamilton.[7][8]

Matches[]

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 Australia Neil Robertson (Q) 6 4 2 15 9 +6 Qualification to Group 1 play-off
2 England Jack Lisowski (Q) 6 4 2 14 13 +1
3 England Ricky Walden (Q) 6 3 3 12 11 +1
4 England Anthony Hamilton (Q) 6 3 3 12 13 −1
5 England Jimmy Robertson (A) 6 3 3 11 11 0 Advances into Group 2
6 England Mark King (E) 6 3 3 11 12 −1 Eliminated from the competition
7 England Robert Milkins (E) 6 1 5 9 15 −6
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
Australia Neil Robertson3
 
 
 
England Anthony Hamilton0
 
Australia Neil Robertson3
 
 
 
England Jack Lisowski0
 
England Jack Lisowski3
 
 
England Ricky Walden1
 

Group 2[]

Group 2 was played on 3 and 4 January 2019. Jack Lisowski was the second player to qualify for the Winners' Group.[9]

Matches[]

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 England Jack Lisowski (Q) 6 5 1 16 10 +6 Qualification to Group 2 play-off
2 Belgium Luca Brecel (Q) 6 4 2 12 10 +2
3 England Kyren Wilson (Q) 6 3 3 13 12 +1
4 England Jimmy Robertson (Q) 6 3 3 13 14 −1
5 England Judd Trump (A) 6 3 3 11 12 −1 Advances into Group 3
6 England Ricky Walden (E) 6 2 4 12 14 −2 Eliminated from the competition
7 England Anthony Hamilton (E) 6 1 5 10 15 −5
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
England Jack Lisowski3
 
 
 
England Jimmy Robertson2
 
England Jack Lisowski3
 
 
 
Belgium Luca Brecel0
 
Belgium Luca Brecel3
 
 
England Kyren Wilson2
 

Group 3[]

Group 3 was played on 7 and 8 January 2019. Judd Trump was the third player to qualify for the Winners' Group.[10]

Matches[]

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 England Stuart Bingham (Q) 6 4 2 16 10 +6 Qualification to Group 3 play-off
2 England Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 4 2 14 9 +5
3 England Mark Selby (Q) 6 4 2 14 11 +3
4 England Judd Trump (Q) 6 3 3 13 13 0
5 Belgium Luca Brecel (A) 6 3 3 11 13 −2 Advances into Group 4
6 England Kyren Wilson (E) 6 2 4 10 12 −2 Eliminated from the competition
7 England Jimmy Robertson (E) 6 1 5 7 16 −9
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
England Stuart Bingham2
 
 
 
England Judd Trump3
 
England Judd Trump3
 
 
 
England Barry Hawkins0
 
England Barry Hawkins3
 
 
England Mark Selby2
 

Group 4[]

Group 4 was played on 9 and 10 January 2019. Stuart Bingham was the fourth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.[11]

Matches[]

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 England Mark Selby (Q) 6 5 1 16 7 +9 Qualification to Group 4 play-off
2 England Stuart Bingham (Q) 6 3 3 13 11 +2
3 England Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 3 3 11 10 +1
4 England Ali Carter (Q) 6 3 3 11 12 −1
5 Belgium Luca Brecel (A) 6 3 3 10 13 −3 Advances into Group 5
6 Wales Ryan Day (E) 6 2 4 11 14 −3 Eliminated from the competition
7 Scotland Graeme Dott (E) 6 2 4 10 15 −5
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
England Mark Selby3
 
 
 
England Ali Carter1
 
England Mark Selby1
 
 
 
England Stuart Bingham3
 
England Stuart Bingham3
 
 
England Barry Hawkins1
 

Group 5[]

Group 5 was played on 21 and 22 January 2019. Mark Selby was the fifth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.[12]

Matches[]

Note

Due to illness, Luca Brecel withdrew from the tournament prior to group 5 play. He was replaced in the group by David Gilbert.

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 England David Gilbert (Q) 6 5 1 16 10 +6 Qualification to Group 5 play-off
2 Scotland Stephen Maguire (Q) 6 4 2 14 10 +4
3 England Mark Selby (Q) 6 3 3 13 10 +3
4 England Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 3 3 12 12 0
5 England Ali Carter (A) 6 3 3 11 13 −2 Advances into Group 6
6 Scotland Anthony McGill (E) 6 2 4 10 15 −5 Eliminated from the competition
7 England Joe Perry (E) 6 1 5 9 15 −6
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
England David Gilbert 0
 
 
 
England Barry Hawkins 3
 
England Barry Hawkins 0
 
 
 
England Mark Selby 3
 
Scotland Stephen Maguire 2
 
 
England Mark Selby 3
 

Group 6[]

Group 6 was played on 23 and 24 January 2019. Martin Gould was the sixth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.[13]

Matches[]

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 England Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 5 1 16 7 +9 Qualification to Group 6 play-off
2 England Mark Davis (Q) 6 4 2 14 11 +3
3 England Martin Gould (Q) 6 4 2 13 8 +5
4 Scotland Stephen Maguire (Q) 6 3 3 11 14 −3
5 England David Gilbert (A) 6 2 4 11 13 −2 Advances into Group 7
6 England Ali Carter (E) 6 2 4 11 14 −3 Eliminated from the competition
7 China Xiao Guodong (E) 6 1 5 6 15 −9
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
England Barry Hawkins 3
 
 
 
Scotland Stephen Maguire 1
 
England Barry Hawkins 2
 
 
 
England Martin Gould 3
 
England Mark Davis 1
 
 
England Martin Gould 3
 

Group 7[]

Group 7 was played on 11 and 12 March 2019. John Higgins was the seventh and final player to qualify for the Winners' Group.[14]

Matches[]

Note

David Gilbert and Barry Hawkins withdrew from the tournament prior to group 7 play. They were replaced by Tom Ford and Noppon Saengkham.

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 Scotland John Higgins (Q) 6 6 0 18 2 +16 Qualification to Group 7 play-off
2 Thailand Noppon Saengkham (Q) 6 5 1 16 8 +8
3 China Ding Junhui (Q) 6 4 2 12 11 +1
4 Scotland Stephen Maguire (Q) 6 2 4 11 15 −4
5 England Mark Davis (E) 6 2 4 9 16 −7 Eliminated from the competition
6 England Tom Ford (E) 6 1 5 9 16 −7
7 Wales Michael White (E) 6 1 5 9 16 −7
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
Scotland John Higgins3
 
 
 
Scotland Stephen Maguire1
 
Scotland John Higgins3
 
 
 
China Ding Junhui0
 
Thailand Noppon Saengkham2
 
 
China Ding Junhui3
 

Winners' Group[]

The Winners' Group was played on 13 and 14 March 2019. Martin Gould won his second Championship League title, beating Jack Lisowski 3–1 in the final. During the round robin matches, John Higgins made his 750th career century break. On the second day, Judd Trump made his 600th career century in his match against Martin Gould.[15]

Matches[]

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 Australia Neil Robertson (Q) 6 4 2 13 10 +3 Qualification to Winners' Group play-off
2 England Martin Gould (Q) 6 4 2 12 9 +3
3 Scotland John Higgins (Q) 6 3 3 13 13 0
4 England Jack Lisowski (Q) 6 3 3 12 11 +1
5 England Mark Selby (E) 6 3 3 12 11 +1 Eliminated from the competition
6 England Judd Trump (E) 6 3 3 11 11 0
7 England Stuart Bingham (E) 6 1 5 8 16 −8
Source: Championship League Snooker by Matchroom Sport
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-offs[]

 
Semi Finals
Best of 5 frames		Final
Best of 5 frames
 
      
 
 
 
 
Australia Neil Robertson0
 
 
 
England Jack Lisowski3
 
England Jack Lisowski1
 
 
 
England Martin Gould3
 
England Martin Gould3
 
 
Scotland John Higgins0
 

Century breaks[]

Total: 104[16]

Bold: highest break in the indicated group.

Winnings[]

No. Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 W TOTAL
1 England Martin Gould (27) 6100 14200 20300
2 England Jack Lisowski (16) 4300 6400 8600 19300
3 England Mark Selby (1) 3250 5300 6100 2400 17050
4 Scotland John Higgins (4) 7100 5600 12700
5 Australia Neil Robertson (10) 6800 5600 12400
6 England Barry Hawkins(2) (7) 4300 2400 4100 5100 15900
7 England Stuart Bingham (12) 3450 6100 1600 11150
8 England Judd Trump (5) 1100 6100 3200 10400
9 Scotland Stephen Maguire (15) 3000 2400 2400 7800
10 Belgium Luca Brecel(1) (14) 4100 1100 1000 6200
11 England Ali Carter (17) 2400 1100 1600 5100
12 England Jimmy Robertson (23) 1100 2900 700 4700
13 England Kyren Wilson (9) 3400 1000 4400
14 England David Gilbert(2) (19) 3100 1100 4200
15 China Ding Junhui (8) 4100 4100
16 England Ricky Walden (34) 2500 1200 3700
17 England Mark Davis (35) 2700 900 3600
18 England Anthony Hamilton (30) 2200 1000 3200
= Thailand Noppon Saengkham (32) 3200 3200
20 England Mark King (26) 1100 1100
= Wales Ryan Day (13) 1100 1100
22 Scotland Graeme Dott (22) 1000 1000
= Scotland Anthony McGill (20) 1000 1000
24 England Robert Milkins (32) 900 900
= England Joe Perry (18) 900 900
= England Tom Ford (28) 900 900
= Wales Michael White (36) 900 900
28 China Xiao Guodong (25) 600 600
Total prize money 18,900 19,900 19,900 19,200 19,300 19,600 19,500 41,200 177,500

Green: won the group. Bold: highest break in the group. All prize money in GBP.
Parenthesis: World rankings prior to tournament start, 1 January 2019.
Notes
(1) Due to illness, Luca Brecel withdrew from the tournament prior to Group 5 play.
(2) Barry Hawkins and David Gilbert withdrew from the tournament prior to Group 7 play.

References[]

  1. ^ "2018/19 Calendar" (PDF). World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Calendar 2019/2020 | World Snooker Live Scores". Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Gilbert Makes Historic 147th Maximum". World Snooker. 22 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Higgins Retains Championship League Crown". World Snooker. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Gould Strikes Gold At Championship League". World Snooker. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Home - Championship League Snooker". Championship League Snooker.
  7. ^ "Robertson First Into Winners' Group". World Snooker. 3 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Neil Robertson Wins Championship League Group One". SnookerHQ. 3 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Lisowski Beats Brecel In 27 Minutes". World Snooker. 4 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Trump On Top In Group Three". World Snooker. 8 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Bingham Beats Selby In Group Four Final". World Snooker. 10 January 2019.
  12. ^ "High Five For Selby". World Snooker. 22 January 2019.
  13. ^ "Gould Strikes Gold In Group Six". World Snooker. 24 January 2019.
  14. ^ "And Higgins makes seven". Championshipleague Snooker. 12 March 2019.
  15. ^ "2019 Championship League - Winners' Group". snooker.org. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  16. ^ "Century Breaks 2019". 14 March 2019.

External links[]

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