The Champion of Champions commences on Monday with the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump in the 2023 draw.
Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, and Mark Allen are among the other high-profile stars featuring at the prestigious invitational in Bolton.
Champion of Champions Roll of Honour
2013: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2014: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2015: Neil Robertson
2016: John Higgins
2017: Shaun Murphy
2018: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2019 Neil Robertson
2020: Mark Allen
2021: Judd Trump
2022: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Prize, history, format
As normal, the Champion of Champions draw comprises 16 players who have captured silverware on various tours over the course of the last 12-month period.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is the reigning champion and has won the competition a record four times.
The Rocket beat Judd Trump in last year’s title decider, and it will be that pair who many will expect to challenge strongly again this year.
Trump won the Champion of Champions for the first time two years ago, and there are three other former champions in the 2023 draw.
John Higgins, Shaun Murphy, and Mark Allen all know what it takes to go the distance as well.
One notable absentee from this edition’s field is Neil Robertson – a two-time former champion who has failed to qualify amid a disappointing spell of form.
Stuart Bingham and Kyren Wilson, runners-up to O’Sullivan in 2013 and 2018 respectively, have also missed out.
There’s a top prize of £150,000 for the winner, making it one of the richest cheques on offer on the calendar.
The event is effectively a straight knockout, although for marketing reasons promoter Matchroom Sport separates each quarter into groups with miniature “semi-finals” and “finals” on each of the first four days.
The first-round match is played over seven frames with the format increasing to eleven frames for the following two rounds, before a best-of-19 frame final determines the champion.
2023 Champion of Champions draw
There are debuts this year for women’s world champion Baipat Siripaporn, Snooker Shoot Out king Chris Wakelin, and 2022 Scottish Open winner Gary Wilson.
Zhang Anda will make his first appearance too after taking the 16th and last spot in the draw.
The Chinese competitor secured an impressive maiden ranking event victory at the International Championship on Sunday.
Mark Williams and Barry Hawkins make their returns to the event following their respective successes in this season’s British Open and European Masters.
Jimmy White is also back in the mix for the first time since 2020 thanks to his record fourth glory at the World Seniors Championship.
Luca Brecel and Mark Selby, who contested a memorable World Championship final in May, are involved in addition to English duo Ali Carter and Robert Milkins.
UPDATE: On day two, Ding Junhui replaced Ronnie O’Sullivan after the reigning champion withdrew from the event citing health reasons.
Daily Schedule
2023 Champion of Champions
Monday (Group 4)
Last 16 (bo7)
Mark Allen 4-1 Jimmy White
Mark Selby 3-4 Ali Carter
Quarter-Final (bo11)
Mark Allen 6-2 Ali Carter
Tuesday (Group 2)
Last 16 (bo7)
Luca Brecel 0-4 Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams 2-4 Robert Milkins
Quarter-Final (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Robert Milkins
Wednesday (Group 1)
Last 16 (bo7)
John Higgins 4-0 Chris Wakelin
Ding Junhui 4-3 Zhang Anda
Quarter-Final (bo11)
John Higgins 6-1 Ding Junhui
Thursday (Group 3)
Last 16 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-0 Baipat Siripaporn
Shaun Murphy 4-1 Gary Wilson
Quarter-Final (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-4 Shaun Murphy
Friday
Semi-Final (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 3-6 Judd Trump
Saturday
Semi-Final (bo11)
John Higgins 2-6 Mark Allen
Sunday
Final (bo19)
Judd Trump 3-10 Mark Allen
How to watch the Champion of Champions
Live coverage of the 2023 Champion of Champions will be on ITV Sport, with various other options available around the world.
Visit the Champion of Champions website for more information on the worldwide coverage.
Featured photo credit: Champion of Champions
Gary Wilson, Zhang Anda, Chris Wakelin and Baipat Siripaporn are this year’s debutants. This takes the number of players to have competed in this iteration of the event to 53.
It’s worth remembering the first running of this event occurred in 1978 and 1980 in London. While I’d argue the Champions Cup, run between 1999 and 2001, was essentially the same event.
Neil Robertson, Kyren Wilson, Tom Ford and Jack Lisowski are the top 16 players not involved.
Tomorrow evening’s coverage will be on ITV3 as opposed to ITV4.