Champion of Champions (snooker)

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 Neil Robertson.

Champion of Champions
Tournament information
VenueRicoh Arena
LocationLondon (1978, 1980)
Coventry (since 2013)
CountryEngland
Established1978
Organisation(s)WPBSA
Matchroom Sport
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£440,000[1]
Current champion(s) Neil Robertson

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 2019 the tournament had a prize fund of £440,000, of which £150,000 goes 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 is held in November at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and contested by 16 of the world's leading players.[7] The event is 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 Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–7 in the final.[10] Ronnie O'Sullivan was beaten by Shaun Murphy in the 2017 final. Ronnie took back the trophy in 2018 after beating Kyren Wilson 10–9. Neil Robertson beat Judd Trump in the 2019 final to win the event for the second time.

After seven years in Coventry, the tournament will be held at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes for the first time in 2020.

Winners
Year Winner Runner-up Final score Host city Season
1978[3] Ray Reardon Alex Higgins 11–9 London 1978/79
1980[5] Doug Mountjoy John Virgo 10–8 1980/81
Champion of Champions (non-ranking)
2013[11] Ronnie O'Sullivan Stuart Bingham 10–8 Coventry 2013/14
2014[12] Ronnie O'Sullivan Judd Trump 10–7 2014/15
2015[9] Neil Robertson Mark Allen 10–5 2015/16
2016[10] John Higgins Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–7 2016/17
2017[13] Shaun Murphy Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–8 2017/18
2018[14] Ronnie O'Sullivan Kyren Wilson 10–9 2018/19
2019[15] Neil Robertson Judd Trump 10–9 2019/20
2020 – Milton Keynes 2020/21
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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. "1978 Champion of Champions". cuetracker.net. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  4. "Weekend broadcasting – Personal choice". The Times. 5 November 1978. p. 11.
  5. 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. 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. "188BET Champion of Champions (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  10. "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.
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