Champion of Champions (snooker)

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Champion of Champions
2014 Champion of Champions logo.png
Tournament information
VenueWembley Conference Centre (1978)
New London Theatre (1980)
Coventry Building Society Arena (2013–2019)
Marshall Arena (2020)
Bolton Whites Hotel (2021)
LocationLondon (1978, 1980)
Coventry (2013–2019)
Milton Keynes (2020)
Bolton (2021)
CountryEngland
Established1978
Organisation(s)WPBSA
Matchroom Sport
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£440,000[1]
Recent edition2021
Current champion Judd Trump (ENG)

The Champion of Champions is a professional non-ranking snooker tournament. It was held in 1978 and 1980 and was then revived in 2013 by Matchroom Sport. The reigning champion is Judd Trump.

The Champion of Champions features winners of World Snooker events over the preceding 12 months, with the field topped up, if necessary, from the current World Rankings. In 2020, the tournament had a prize fund of £440,000, of which £150,000 went to the winner.

History[]

The event was created in 1978 by boxing promoter Mike Barrett.[2] The event was contested by four players at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.[3] It was played over two days with the semi-finals on the first day and the final on the second day. World Champion Ray Reardon beat the Masters winner Alex Higgins 11–9 in the final.[3] Brief highlights were shown on ITV's World of Sport on the following afternoon.[4]

The event was not held in 1979 but appeared again in 1980 at the New London Theatre in Drury Lane, London but in a different format. Ten players competed in the tournament, split into two groups. Each group played a round robin with the winners of the groups advancing to the final. Doug Mountjoy beat John Virgo 10–8 in the final. The tournament was then abandoned since the audiences had been poor and the event financially unsuccessful.[5]

The event was revived in 2013 by Matchroom Sport, replacing the Premier League Snooker on the calendar.[6] The event was held in November at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and contested by 16 of the world's leading players.[7] The event was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on ITV4.[8] The 2013 and 2014 tournaments were both won by Ronnie O'Sullivan but he chose not to defend the title in 2015. In 2015, Neil Robertson defeated Mark Allen by 10–5 to claim his first title in this tournament.[9] In 2016, John Higgins beat O'Sullivan 10–7 in the final.[10] O'Sullivan was beaten by Shaun Murphy in the 2017 final, but he took back the trophy in 2018 after beating Kyren Wilson 10–9. Robertson beat Judd Trump in the 2019 final to win the event for the second time. The 2020 final was a repeat of the final of the 2015 edition of the event, but this time Allen defeated Robertson 10–6. In 2021, Trump won 10–4 against Higgins.

As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the tournament was relocated to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes in order to create a secure bubble, the same as all other snooker tournaments played in that season. The 2021 edition was played in Bolton for the first time, featuring a change to the dress code, where all players had special shirts with their name on the back: this change was met with mixed response by the players.

Winners[]

Year Winner Runner-up Final score Venue Season
1978[3]  Ray Reardon (WAL)  Alex Higgins (NIR) 11–9 London 1978/79
1980[5]  Doug Mountjoy (WAL)  John Virgo (ENG) 10–8 1980/81
2013[11]  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)  Stuart Bingham (ENG) 10–8 Coventry 2013/14
2014[12]  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)  Judd Trump (ENG) 10–7 2014/15
2015[9]  Neil Robertson (AUS)  Mark Allen (NIR) 10–5 2015/16
2016[10]  John Higgins (SCO)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 10–7 2016/17
2017[13]  Shaun Murphy (ENG)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 10–8 2017/18
2018[14]  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)  Kyren Wilson (ENG) 10–9 2018/19
2019[15]  Neil Robertson (AUS)  Judd Trump (ENG) 10–9 2019/20
2020  Mark Allen (NIR)  Neil Robertson (AUS) 10–6 Milton Keynes 2020/21
2021  Judd Trump (ENG)  John Higgins (SCO) 10–4 Bolton 2021/22

References[]

  1. ^ "Prize Fund". Champion of Champions Snooker. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Snooker – World champion in semi-final faces Fagan". The Times. 2 November 1978. p. 13.
  3. ^ a b c "1978 Champion of Champions". cuetracker.net. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Weekend broadcasting – Personal choice". The Times. 5 November 1978. p. 11.
  5. ^ a b Turner, Chris. "Other Non-Ranking and Invition Events". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  6. ^ "O'Sullivan excited by new Champion of Champions event". ESPN. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  7. ^ "888Casino Champion Of Champions Snooker tickets on sale". AZ Billiards. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  8. ^ "ITV4 to Televise Champion of Champions". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  9. ^ a b "188BET Champion of Champions (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Dafabet Champion of Champions (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  11. ^ "888casino Champion of Champions (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Dafabet Champion of Champions (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  13. ^ "188BET Champion of Champions (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  14. ^ "ManBetX Champion of Champions (2018)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  15. ^ "ManBetX Champion of Champions (2019)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

External links[]

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