The first ranking event of the 2020/21 campaign gets under way on Sunday in Milton Keynes.
It has been confirmed that a snooker stream for the latest edition of the Championship League will be available on Matchroom.Live.
Given the newly-upgraded ranking event is promoted by Matchroom Sport, it doesn’t come as any great deal of surprise to see it aired on its new platform.
Matchroom.Live previously screened the three post-lockdown tournaments that concluded the interrupted 2019/20 term – including the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield last month that was won by Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The Championship League snooker stream will be free for those who are registered in the UK and Ireland.
A full list of global coverage rights can be viewed here, with the action set to begin on Sunday at the Marshall Arena.
Previously always an invitational event, the third edition of the Championship League in 2020 has been opened up to every professional player and will for the first time carry ranking points.
A total of 128 players will cue up at the Marshall Arena over the next few weeks in a unique format which incorporates a round-robin as well as short encounters that will last only four frames.
Because of the vastly increased field, this edition of the Championship League is set to take place over three separate weeks on the snooker calendar.
The first two weeks are effectively qualifiers for the third and final stint of action in late October that will ultimately provide the champion.
There are 32 groups at the outset comprising four players in each, with the 32 winners following the mini-league phase advancing to the second stage.
The first 16 groups will be contested from Sunday for a week, while the remaining 16 groups will undertake their fixtures at the end of September and into October.
World number one Judd Trump is among those participating at the beginning of the lengthy process, with last season’s record six-time ranking event winner up against Alan McManus, David Lilley, and Fan Zhengyi on day one.
Recent world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan – in a group alongside Li Hang, Alex Borg, and teenage rookie Iulian Boiko – won’t be involved until October 5th.
Every member of the top 16 in the world rankings has entered with the exception of China’s Ding Junhui.
The Championship League is the first of numerous events on the 2020/21 snooker schedule that will be staged in Milton Keynes.
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