The 2024 Champion of Champions commences on Monday with 16 players in the draw at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in Bolton.
The field comprises winners from the World Snooker Tour over the last 12-month period, the women’s world champion, the world seniors champion, and top-ups from the world rankings.
Staged in its current form since 2013, the Champion of Champions has become one of the most prestigious invitational tournaments on the calendar.
Who is in the 2024 Champion of Champions draw?
Mark Allen returns this year as the tournament’s defending champion having etched his name onto the trophy for the second time 12 months ago.
The Northern Irishman contests Group 1 on day one and will face Igor Figeuiredo in his opening fixture, the popular Brazilian gaining an invitation on the back of his triumph at the World Seniors Championship.
Each of the first four days are marketed as separate “groups” that will determine each of the four semi-finalists.
But the format is effectively the same as normal with last-16 and quarter-final ties rather than any round-robin play.
Allen is the favourite to progress to the last four from his section with Gary Wilson – the Scottish Open and Welsh Open winner – and World Championship finalist Jak Jones in the same quarter of the draw.
Tuesday will see a battle between the two most recent world champions, with the in-form Kyren Wilson paired with the out-of-form Luca Brecel in the opening round.
Brecel’s high, and misrepresentative, world ranking is what has earned him a place among the lineup but he has demonstrated very little recently to suggest he’ll challenge for glory this week.
Tour Championship winner Mark Williams will likely await the winner in the Group 3 final with the Welshman a heavy favourite to see off the challenge of women’s world champion Bai Yulu.
Group 2 is on Wednesday where world number one Judd Trump enters the fray alongside English Open champion Neil Robertson, Championship League Snooker winner Ali Carter, and Sunday’s International Championship winner Ding Junhui.
Ding bagged the last ticket to Bolton by emerging with his first ranking title since 2019 in Nanjing, setting up a blockbuster encounter against Trump.
On Thursday, Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to be involved with the record four-time champion scheduled to face Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong in round one.
O’Sullivan, who is yet to get his hands on silverware this term after acquiring five during the last campaign, withdrew at the last minute a year ago so his participation can’t be absolutely guaranteed.
Group 4, though, is arguably the toughest of the four sections on paper with British Open winner Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy – invited through his world ranking – vying to reach the latter stages as well.
The Champion of Champions semi-finals take place on Friday evening and Saturday evening before Sunday’s final will see the winner awarded the £150,000 top prize.
2024 Champion of Champions
Monday (Group 1)
1pm UTC
Mark Allen vs Igor Figueiredo
Following 1pm game
Gary Wilson vs Jak Jones
Group 1 Final
7pm UTC
Allen/Figueiredo vs G.Wilson/Jones
Tuesday (Group 3)
1pm UTC
Kyren Wilson vs Luca Brecel
Following 1pm game
Mark Williams vs Bai Yulu
Group 3 Final
7pm UTC
K.Wilson/Brecel vs Williams/Bai
Wednesday (Group 2)
1pm UTC
Judd Trump vs Ding Junhui
Following 1pm game
Ali Carter vs Neil Robertson
Group 2 Final
7pm UTC
Trump/Ding vs Carter/Robertson
Thursday (Group 4)
1pm UTC
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Xiao Guodong
Following 1pm game
Mark Selby vs Shaun Murphy
Group 4 Final
7pm UTC
O’Sullivan/Xiao vs Selby/Murphy
Semi-Finals
Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 7pm UTC
Final
Sunday at 1pm and 7pm UTC
Click here to view the full updated draw
(snooker.org)
How to watch the tournament
There are various options available to watch the 2024 Champion of Champions, and here is a full list of official broadcasters as published by promoter Matchroom Sport:
ITV – UK and Ireland
Rigour – China
Sport 1 – Israel
Sport 2 – Hungary
DAZN – Germany
Fox Sports – Australia
Mola TV – Indonesia
Nova – Czech Republic & Slovakia
Sky Network – New Zealand
StarHub – Singapore
Sportklub – Croatia & Ex-Yugo
HLN – Belgium
Viaplay – Baltics, Iceland, Netherlands, & Poland
Viasat – Scandinavia
Rest of the World – Matchroom.Live
Featured photo credit: Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Igor Figueiredo’s presence means Africa is the only continent never to had representation through the different iterations of this tournament. The only North Americans to have featured are Kirk Stevens and Cliff Thorburn.
Some good matches in prospect with only a handful of mismatches by the looks of the draw; and I like the faux “groups” structure much more than the shirts which make the players look less like sportsmen and women, and more like someone you might see in a club with a bad dress sense.