Championship League

Championship League is a non-ranking snooker tournament, devised by Matchroom Sport. The tournament was originally held at the Crondon Park Golf Club in Stock, Essex, from its debut in 2008 until 2016.[2] From 2017–2018, it was held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Luca Brecel is the reigning champion.

This article is about the snooker tournament. For the darts tournament, see Championship League Darts.
Championship League
Tournament information
VenueCrondon Park Golf Club (2008–2016)
Ricoh Arena (2017 and 2018)
Ricoh Arena and Barnsley Metrodome (2019)
Morningside Arena (2019/20)
Marshall Arena (2020)
LocationStock, Essex (2008–2016)
Coventry (2017 and 2018)
Barnsley (2019)
Leicester (2019/20)
Milton Keynes (2020)
CountryEngland
Established2008
Organisation(s)Matchroom Sport
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£200,000[1]
Current champion(s) Luca Brecel

History and format

The event was introduced in 2008 by Barry Hearn to provide additional competition and a qualifier to the Premier League Snooker. 25 professionals take part, there is no audience and every match is broadcast via internet only.[2] Players earn money for every frame won and there are also prizes for being a semi-finalist, runner-up and winner of each group, with more money involved in the winners group.

In the first two years all matches in the group stages were the best of four, meaning that the matches could ended in a draw as all the four frames were played, and the semi-finals and final was best of five. From 2010 all matches are best of five.

The competition runs over eight groups, each consisting of seven players. From the league stage of the first seven groups the top four qualify for a play-off, the winner of which qualifies for the winners group. The bottom two players of each league 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 with the overall winner taking a place in that year's Premier League Snooker until 2012,[2] and in that year's Champion of Champions from 2013.

There have been eight maximum breaks in the history of the tournament. Shaun Murphy compiled the first at the 2014 event against Mark Davis in their league stage match of group two.[3][4] Barry Hawkins achieved the second one-year later at the 2015 event against Stephen Maguire in their league stage match of group one.[5] David Gilbert achieved the third one at the 2015 event against Xiao Guodong in their league stage match of group seven.[6] In 2016 Fergal O'Brien made the fourth maximum break during his league stage match against Mark Davis in group six. Mark Davis produced the fifth in the competition's history in the 2017 event in the deciding frame of the Group Three playoff final against Neil Robertson.[7] Later on, Davis made another maximum break in the deciding 5th frame of his Winners' Group round robin match against John Higgins, becoming the first player to make two maximum breaks in a tournament. In the 2018 edition, Luca Brecel made the seventh maximum in history during his match against John Higgins, it being the first maximum of his career. In the 2019 Championship League David Gilbert made the historic 147th maximum break in his group 5 round robin match against Stephen Maguire.[8] 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.

Winners

[2]

Year Winner Runner-up Final score Season Venue
Championship League (non-ranking)
2008 Joe Perry Mark Selby 3–1 2007/08 Crondon Park Golf Club
in Stock, Essex
2009 Judd Trump Mark Selby 3–2 2008/09
2010 Marco Fu Mark Allen 3–2 2009/10
2011 Matthew Stevens Shaun Murphy 3–1 2010/11
2012[9] Ding Junhui Judd Trump 3–1 2011/12
2013[10] Martin Gould Ali Carter 3–2 2012/13
2014[11] Judd Trump Martin Gould 3–1 2013/14
2015[12] Stuart Bingham Mark Davis 3–2 2014/15
2016[13] Judd Trump Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–2 2015/16
2017[14] John Higgins Ryan Day 3–0 2016/17 Ricoh Arena in Coventry
2018[15] John Higgins Zhou Yuelong 3–2 2017/18
2019[16] Martin Gould Jack Lisowski 3–1 2018/19 Ricoh Arena and Barnsley Metrodome
2019/20[17] Scott Donaldson Graeme Dott 3–0 2019/20 Morningside Arena in Leicester
2020[18] Luca Brecel Ben Woollaston Round-Robin 2019/20 Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes
Championship League (ranking)
2020 2020/21
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References
  1. "Prize Fund - Championship League Snooker 2015". championshipleaguesnooker.co.uk. Matchroom Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  2. Turner, Chris. "Matchroom Championship League". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  3. "Murphy produces maximum magic at Championship League". ESPN. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  4. "Perry claims Group 2 spot in just 26 minutes". premierleaguesnooker.com. Matchroom Sport. 9 January 2014. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  5. "Hawkins Makes 147 At CLS". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  6. "Xiao Wins CLS7 / Gilbert Makes 147". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  7. https://snookerhq.com/2017/01/11/mark-davis-wins-cls-group-three-with-147/
  8. "Gilbert Makes Historic 147th Maximum". World Snooker. 22 January 2019.
  9. "Championship League - Winners Group (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  10. "Championship League – Winners Group (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  11. "Championship League - Winners' Group (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  12. "Championship League - Winners' Group (2015)". championshipleaguesnooker.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  13. "Championship League - Winners' Group (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  14. "Championship League - Winners' Group (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  15. "Championship League - Winners' Group (2018)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  16. "Gould Strikes Gold At Championship League". World Snooker. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  17. "Betvictor To Title Sponsor Championship League Snooker". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 3 October 2019.
  18. "CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE TO START JUNE 1ST". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 22 May 2020.
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