O’Sullivan And Trump Among Championship League Field
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and World Champion Judd Trump are among the leading snooker stars to have confirmed their entry to Championship League Snooker, which will mark the return of live snooker to TV screens when it begins on ITV on Monday, June 1st.
Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson and Stuart Bingham are among the other top-16 players who have entered and will compete at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes. For more details about the event click here
Group Draw
Monday June 1st
Group 2
Judd Trump
Daniel Wells
Elliot Slessor
David Grace
Group 13
David Gilbert
Stuart Carrington
Jak Jones
Jackson Page
Tuesday June 2nd
Group 9
Jack Lisowski
Luca Brecel
Robbie Williams
Oliver Lines
Group 3
Michael Holt
Mark Davis
Mark Joyce
Louis Heathcote
Wednesday June 3rd
Group 12
Kyren Wilson
Ryan Day
Alfie Burden
Chen Feilong
Group 4
Joe Perry
Mark King
Sam Baird
Harvey Chandler
Thursday June 4th
Group 5
Mark Selby
Liang Wenbo
Joe O’Connor
Lee Walker
Group 14
Gary Wilson
Matthew Stevens
John Astley
Mitchell Mann
Friday June 5th
Group 10
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Chris Wakelin
Michael Georgiou
Kishan Hirani
Group 15
Tom Ford
Robert Milkins
Mike Dunn
Ian Burns
Saturday June 6th
Group 1
Stuart Bingham
Ricky Walden
Jordan Brown
Jamie Clarke
Group 8
Jimmy Robertson
Ben Woollaston
Liam Highfield
Alex Ursenbacher
Sunday June 7th
Group 16
Neil Robertson
Kurt Maflin
Ken Doherty
Ashley Carty
Group 7
Barry Hawkins
Anthony McGill
Craig Steadman
Hammad Miah
Monday June 8th
Group 11
Mark Allen
Martin O’Donnell
Michael White
Nigel Bond
Group 6
Ali Carter
Matt Selt
Sam Craigie
Dominic Dale
Group Winners’ Stage
Tuesday June 9th
Group C
Winner of Group 10
Winner of Group 6
Winner of Group 1
Winner of Group 4
Group D
Winner of Group 15
Winner of Group 11
Winner of Group 8
Winner of Group 5
Wednesday June 10th
Group B
Winner of Group 12
Winner of Group 2
Winner of Group 7
Winner of Group 13
Group A
Winner of Group 14
Winner of Group 3
Winner of Group 9
Winner of Group 16
Tournament finals
Thursday June 11th
Winner of Group C
Winner of Group D
Winner of Group B
Winner of Group A
The format of matches on each day will be announced next week.
Featuring 64-players in round-robin groups, the Championship League will take place behind closed doors with strict rules on social distancing, COVID testing and hygiene in place, in line with government guidelines. The Marshall Arena has been selected as the venue as it has on-site accommodation meaning no players, officials or staff will need to leave the venue once they have entered.
Play will begin at 3pm on Monday, June 1st with Judd Trump in Group Two action. O’Sullivan enters the fray in Group Ten on Friday, June 5th. All players who entered were seeded in order of their World Ranking after the Gibraltar Open, and split into four seeding pots of 16 players, with one player from each pot drawn at random into each group.
Championship League will be split into three phases, with all matches during all stages played as the best-of-four frames. Play will begin at 3pm each day, running continuously until both groups are complete, with the exception of Friday, June 5th when play will begin at 4pm.
- GROUP MATCHES from June 1st to 8th will feature 16 groups of four players, with two groups played each day across two tables. The player who tops each group table will progress to Phase Two. Players will be awarded three points for a win and one point for a drawn match.
- GROUP WINNERS from June 9th to 10th sees the 16 group winners split into four further groups of four, with two groups per day also played over two tables.
- TOURNAMENT FINALS from June 11th will see the four Phase Two winners battle it out over one final group, played on one table, to determine the Championship League winner.The total prize fund will stand at over £200,000. Players will earn a guaranteed £1,000 with the winner taking home £30,000 and a place in November’s Champion of Champions. Championship League will not be a ranking event and will be promoted by Matchroom Multi Sport.
Prize money
First group round
Winner: £4,000
2nd: £2,000
3rd: £1,500
4th: £1,000
Winners’ groups
Winner: £6,000
2nd: £2,500
3rd: £2,000
4th: £1,500
Tournament final group
Winner: £20,000
2nd: £8,000
3rd: £4,000
4th: £2,000
Total: £218,000