2019 Championship League

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.

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

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 Neil Robertson (Q) 6 4 2 15 9 +6 Qualification to Group 1 play-off
2 Jack Lisowski (Q) 6 4 2 14 13 +1
3 Ricky Walden (Q) 6 3 3 12 11 +1
4 Anthony Hamilton (Q) 6 3 3 12 13 −1
5 Jimmy Robertson (A) 6 3 3 11 11 0 Advances into Group 2
6 Mark King (E) 6 3 3 11 12 −1 Eliminated from the competition
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Neil Robertson3
 
 
 
 Anthony Hamilton0
 
 Neil Robertson3
 
 
 
 Jack Lisowski0
 
 Jack Lisowski3
 
 
 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 Jack Lisowski (Q) 6 5 1 16 10 +6 Qualification to Group 2 play-off
2 Luca Brecel (Q) 6 4 2 12 10 +2
3 Kyren Wilson (Q) 6 3 3 13 12 +1
4 Jimmy Robertson (Q) 6 3 3 13 14 −1
5 Judd Trump (A) 6 3 3 11 12 −1 Advances into Group 3
6 Ricky Walden (E) 6 2 4 12 14 −2 Eliminated from the competition
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Jack Lisowski3
 
 
 
 Jimmy Robertson2
 
 Jack Lisowski3
 
 
 
 Luca Brecel0
 
 Luca Brecel3
 
 
 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 Stuart Bingham (Q) 6 4 2 16 10 +6 Qualification to Group 3 play-off
2 Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 4 2 14 9 +5
3 Mark Selby (Q) 6 4 2 14 11 +3
4 Judd Trump (Q) 6 3 3 13 13 0
5 Luca Brecel (A) 6 3 3 11 13 −2 Advances into Group 4
6 Kyren Wilson (E) 6 2 4 10 12 −2 Eliminated from the competition
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Stuart Bingham2
 
 
 
 Judd Trump3
 
 Judd Trump3
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins0
 
 Barry Hawkins3
 
 
 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 Mark Selby (Q) 6 5 1 16 7 +9 Qualification to Group 4 play-off
2 Stuart Bingham (Q) 6 3 3 13 11 +2
3 Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 3 3 11 10 +1
4 Ali Carter (Q) 6 3 3 11 12 −1
5 Luca Brecel (A) 6 3 3 10 13 −3 Advances into Group 5
6 Ryan Day (E) 6 2 4 11 14 −3 Eliminated from the competition
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Mark Selby3
 
 
 
 Ali Carter1
 
 Mark Selby1
 
 
 
 Stuart Bingham3
 
 Stuart Bingham3
 
 
 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 David Gilbert (Q) 6 5 1 16 10 +6 Qualification to Group 5 play-off
2 Stephen Maguire (Q) 6 4 2 14 10 +4
3 Mark Selby (Q) 6 3 3 13 10 +3
4 Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 3 3 12 12 0
5 Ali Carter (A) 6 3 3 11 13 −2 Advances into Group 6
6 Anthony McGill (E) 6 2 4 10 15 −5 Eliminated from the competition
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 David Gilbert 0
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins 3
 
 Barry Hawkins 0
 
 
 
 Mark Selby 3
 
 Stephen Maguire 2
 
 
 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 Barry Hawkins (Q) 6 5 1 16 7 +9 Qualification to Group 6 play-off
2 Mark Davis (Q) 6 4 2 14 11 +3
3 Martin Gould (Q) 6 4 2 13 8 +5
4 Stephen Maguire (Q) 6 3 3 11 14 −3
5 David Gilbert (A) 6 2 4 11 13 −2 Advances into Group 7
6 Ali Carter (E) 6 2 4 11 14 −3 Eliminated from the competition
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins 3
 
 
 
 Stephen Maguire 1
 
 Barry Hawkins 2
 
 
 
 Martin Gould 3
 
 Mark Davis 1
 
 
 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 John Higgins (Q) 6 6 0 18 2 +16 Qualification to Group 7 play-off
2 Noppon Saengkham (Q) 6 5 1 16 8 +8
3 Ding Junhui (Q) 6 4 2 12 11 +1
4 Stephen Maguire (Q) 6 2 4 11 15 −4
5 Mark Davis (E) 6 2 4 9 16 −7 Eliminated from the competition
6 Tom Ford (E) 6 1 5 9 16 −7
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 John Higgins3
 
 
 
 Stephen Maguire1
 
 John Higgins3
 
 
 
 Ding Junhui0
 
 Noppon Saengkham2
 
 
 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, and Judd Trump made his 600th.

Matches

Table
Pos Team Pld W L FF FA FD
1 Neil Robertson (Q) 6 4 2 13 10 +3 Qualification to Winners' Group play-off
2 Martin Gould (Q) 6 4 2 12 9 +3
3 John Higgins (Q) 6 3 3 13 13 0
4 Jack Lisowski (Q) 6 3 3 12 11 +1
5 Mark Selby (E) 6 3 3 12 11 +1 Eliminated from the competition
6 Judd Trump (E) 6 3 3 11 11 0
7 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
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Neil Robertson0
 
 
 
 Jack Lisowski3
 
 Jack Lisowski1
 
 
 
 Martin Gould3
 
 Martin Gould3
 
 
 John Higgins0
 

Century breaks

Total: 104[15]

Bold: highest break in the indicated group.

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

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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".
  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. "Century Breaks 2019". 14 March 2019.
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