The 2024/25 snooker season launches on Monday with the ranking event draw of Championship League Snooker in Leicester.
It has been just over one month since Kyren Wilson landed a maiden Crucible crown with his success at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
The Kettering cueist is the top seed in the Championship League Snooker field with the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and defending champion Shaun Murphy also in the 2024 draw.
What is the format?
Unlike the invitational version of Championship League Snooker, every professional player has the opportunity of entering this tournament.
Additional spaces have been offered to amateur top-ups through their recent performances at Q School.
The 128 players in total have been split into 32 groups of four, with the winner of each group progressing to Stage Two where there will be a further eight groups of four.
The remaining eight group winners will be separated into two final groups during Stage Three, with the winners of both subsequently facing each other for the title.
All matches in the tournament will be played over a short four frames sprint, except the final which will be the best of five.
When is it?
With only two groups being contested each day, it means the tournament will run for a lengthy 24 days.
The opening day is on Monday, June 10th and Stage One of the competition won’t conclude until June 29th.
Stage Two, featuring the 32 group winners from Stage One, will take place from June 28th until July 2nd.
Stage Three will then be held on Wednesday, July 3rd when the 2024/25 snooker season’s first champion will be crowned.
What is the prize money?
Stage One
Group Winner: ยฃ3,000
Runner-up: ยฃ2,000
3rd place: ยฃ1,000
Stage Two
Group Winner: ยฃ4,000
Runner-up: ยฃ3,000
3rd place: ยฃ2,000
4th place: ยฃ1,000
Stage Three:
Group Winner: ยฃ6000
Runner-up: ยฃ4,000
3rd place: ยฃ2,000
4th place: ยฃ1,000
The Final:
Winner: ยฃ20,000
Runner-up: ยฃ10,000
Who is in the 2024 Championship League Snooker draw?
Kyren Wilson and Ronnie O’Sullivan are the headline acts of the 2024 Championship League Snooker draw.
With a limited prize fund and a busy season ahead, it’s unsurprising to see a lot of the marquee names absent from the lineup, though.
The likes of world number one Mark Allen, Judd Trump, Luca Brecel, and Mark Selby have all opted for a longer rest in between campaigns on the main tour.
But reigning champion Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Ali Carter, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, and World Championship runner-up Jak Jones are some of the heavy hitters still involved.
O’Sullivan, who has entered this tournament in the past only to withdraw, is the pre-tournament betting favourite with odds of around 6/1.
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Information for the draw and dates for Stage One is below.
Championship League Snooker
Stage One Draw
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
| Scott Donaldson | He Guoqiang | Shaun Murphy | Mark Williams |
| Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 | Group 8 |
| Ali Carter | Gary Wilson | Robbie McGuigan | Jak Jones |
| Group 9 | Group 10 | Group 11 | Group 12 |
| Ma Hailong | Jackson Page | Ryan Day | Jack Lisowski |
| Group 13 | Group 14 | Group 15 | Group 16 |
| Si Jiahui | Hossein Vafaei | David Gilbert | Fan Zhengyi |
| Group 17 | Group 18 | Group 19 | Group 20 |
| Chris Wakelin | Stuart Bingham | Long Zehuang | Stuart Carrington |
| Group 21 | Group 22 | Group 23 | Group 24 |
| Neil Robertson | Joe O’Connor | Michael White | Martin O’Donnell |
| Group 25 | Group 26 | Group 27 | Group 28 |
| Matthew Stevens | Alexander Ursenbacher | David Lilley | Wu Yize |
| Group 29 | Group 30 | Group 31 | Group 32 |
| Ben Woollaston | Jamie Jones | Ashley Carty | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh |
Stage Two
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Scott Donaldson | David Gilbert | Long Zehuang | Mark Williams |
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
| Ali Carter | David Lilley | Jackson Page | Martin O’Donnell |
Stage Three
| Final Group 1 | Final Group 2 |
| Ali Carter | Jackson Page |
Final (bo5)
Ali Carter 3-1 Jackson Page
How can I watch Championship League Snooker?
Live coverage of the first tournament of the new season will be available to UK and Ireland viewers on Matchroom.Live via a subscription.
The action on Table 2 is available on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
A full list of broadcasters around the world, as published on the Championship League Snooker website, is below:
- DAZN: Germany, Spain, USA, Brazil
- Fox Sports: Australia
- Nova: Czechia and Slovakia
- Premier: Philippines
- Rigour: China
- Viaplay: Baltics, Iceland, Netherlands
- Viasat: Scandinavia
- Matchroom.Live: All other territories including UK and Ireland
Featured photo credit: CLS
