The 2024 Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship gets under way on Monday with a dozen of this season’s best players featuring in a high-profile draw.
It represents the second-last ranking event on the 2023/24 calendar, with just the World Snooker Championship to follow later in April.
Staged at the Manchester Central for the first time, only the top 12 competitors from the one-year rankings list have qualified.
Tour Championship prize money
Champion: ยฃ150,000
Runner-up: ยฃ60,000
Semi-Finals: ยฃ40,000
Quarter-Finals: ยฃ30,000
Round of 12: ยฃ20,000
Highest break: ยฃ10,000
Who has won the Tour Championship?
Since 2019, the Tour Championship has been the culminating event in a series of three in which the lineups are determined by the one-year rankings.
Ronnie O’Sullivan prevailed in its inaugural staging before Stephen Maguire emerged victoriously in a delayed behind-closed-doors edition in 2020.
Neil Robertson subsequently won back-to-back Tour Championship titles, with Shaun Murphy most recently winning in Hull 12 months ago.
Murphy, Robertson, and Maguire have all failed to qualify this season – making O’Sullivan the only former champion in the 2024 Tour Championship draw.
Who is in the 2024 Tour Championship draw?
For the first time in the event’s history, the field has been increased from eight players to 12.
The reason for this is likely what materialised in 2023, when a host of marquee names endured disappointing campaigns and failed to qualify.
As a result of the change, many feel that unnecessary damage has been inflicted on the tournament’s identity and prestige.
Nevertheless, the 2024 Tour Championship draw still boasts an incredibly strong lineup comprising players ranked inside the world’s top 16.
As this season’s highest earners from results in ranking tournaments, Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Zhang Anda, and Ding Junhui are the top four seeds.
Their reward is an automatic bye through to the quarter-finals of the competition.
The remaining eight contenders will battle it out for the other four quarter-final spots.
One tie immediately stands out, with Mark Allen drawn to face John Higgins in a blockbuster first-round battle.
Elsewhere, there are all-English fixtures between Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins, and Mark Selby and Gary Wilson.
Mark Williams encounters Tom Ford, who like Zhang and Wilson will participate in the Tour Championship for the first time.
2024 Tour Championship Draw
Round of 12
Mark Williams (8) 10-9 Tom Ford (9)
Mark Allen (5) 10-7 John Higgins (12)
Gary Wilson (6) 10-8 Mark Selby (11)
Barry Hawkins (7) 8-10 Ali Carter (10)
Quarter-Finals
Judd Trump (1) 4-10 Mark Williams (8)
Ding Junhui (4) 8-10 Mark Allen (5)
Zhang Anda (3) 8-10 Gary Wilson (6)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) 10-2 Ali Carter (10)
Semi-Finals
Mark Williams (8) 10-5 Mark Allen (5)
Gary Wilson (6) 7-10 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
Final (bo19).
Mark Williams (8) 10-5 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
What are the ranking subplots?
The race is well and truly back on at the top of the official rolling two-year snooker rankings list.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been the world number one since mid-2022, but that status will be under serious threat in the next few weeks.
Thanks to his victories in five ranking events this season, Judd Trump has narrowed the gap considerably.
In fact, Trump is so close to O’Sullivan now that he’ll usurp his fellow Englishman if he wins the event, or if he reaches the final and O’Sullivan doesn’t.
Mark Allen, meanwhile, remains in pole position to end the 2023/24 term as the world number one, with the Antrim potter at the top in the provisional end-of-season standings.
Results at the Tour Championship will also help determine the specific seeding positions for the top 16 at the Crucible Theatre this year.
Who is the betting favourite?
With ten titles between them this season, sharing five pieces of silverware apiece, it’s hardly surprising that Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump are the two betting favourites.
O’Sullivan is just about favoured with most online bookies at about 6/4, with Trump boasting odds of around 2/1.
The two rivals are on opposite sides of the draw, which could set up a tantalising final in what would be a repeat of the World Grand Prix title decider from January.
The only other multiple champions from the 2023/24 season are Mark Allen and Gary Wilson, who have outright odds of around 14/1 and 50/1 respectively.
How to watch the 2024 Tour Championship?
There are several options available to watch the upcoming snooker live, depending on your location.
Below is a full list, as previously published on the World Snooker Tour website:
UK and Ireland
ITV
China
Liaoning TV
Migu
Huya.com
USA, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Spain
DAZN
Czech Republic and Slovakia
Nova
Poland, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway
Viaplay / Go3
Hong Kong China
Now TV
Malaysia and Brunei
Astro SuperSport
Thailand
True Vision
Taiwan
Sportcast
Philippines
Premier Sports Network
Pakistan
Fastsports
All other territories
matchroom.live
Featured photo credit: WST
I’d have kept it at eight players to preserve the one table setup throughout but feel any diminishing of its prestige is marginal at best. This is my favourite event of the ITV portfolio. Every match remains two sessions.
Would tend to agree. It’s definitely a pity that it has changed to 12, but there has been a bit of an overreaction to it really. I’m looking forward to seeing what the atmosphere will be like at the new venue.
Hopefully “best friends” Ronnie and Ali to meet in last 8