The 2020 Championship League (also known as the BetVictor Championship League Snooker 2020) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 13 September to 30 October 2020 in the Ballroom, Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, England.[1][2] The event featured 117 players from the World Snooker Tour as well as ten players from the 2020 Q School Order of Merit. It featured three rounds of round-robin groups of four, before a best-of-five final. It was the 15th edition of the Championship League, and it was a ranking tournament for the first time.
Ryan Day made his second career maximum break in the final frame of his match against Rod Lawler, and John Higgins made his 11th career maximum in the final frame of his match against Kyren Wilson.
Kyren Wilson won the tournament with a 3–1 final victory over Judd Trump. This was Wilson's fourth ranking title. He ended Trump's 10-final winning streak.
There were 127 players taking part in the event. The competition began with 32 rounds of group matches with each group consisting of four players.[3] Two groups were played to a finish every day during two blocks of eight days, from 13 to 20 September and from 28 September to 5 October, using a two-table setup in the arena. The groups were contested using a round-robin format, with six matches played in each group. All matches in group play were played as best-of-four frames, with three points awarded for a win and one point for a draw. Group positions were determined by points scored, frame difference and then head-to-head results between players who were tied. Places that were still tied were then determined by the highest break made in the group.
The 32 players that topped the group tables qualified for the group winners' stage, consisting of eight groups of four players. The eight winners from the group winners' stage qualified for the two final groups before the final took place later on the same day. The winner took the Championship League title and a place at the 2020 Champion of Champions.
Prize fund[]
The breakdown of prize money for the tournament is shown below.[1]
Stage One
Winner: £3,000
Runner-up: £2,000
Third place: £1,000
Fourth place: £0
Stage Two
Winner: £4,000
Runner-up: £3,000
Third place: £2,000
Fourth place: £1,000
Stage Three
Winner: £6,000
Runner-up: £4,000
Third place: £2,000
Fourth place: £1,000
Final
Winner: £20,000
Runner-up: £10,000
Tournament total: £328,000
Main draw[]
Stage One[]
Stage One consisted of 32 groups, each containing four players.[4]