The first official ranking event of the 2025/25 snooker season commences on Monday with Championship League Snooker returning to Leicester.
While there was a batch of qualifiers at the Mattioli Arena last week, this will be the first opportunity for players on the main tour to challenge for silverware this term.
That being said, there will still be quite a wait before any name is etched onto the trophy with more than three weeks of action to come in the lengthy competition.
In recent years, it has become common for the ranking event version of Championship League Snooker to act as the curtain raiser of sorts for a fresh term.
It is by no means the flashiest way to launch a new campaign, but the event does offer a good opportunity for fans to watch a lot of different players.
The tournament also represents a soft opener for the rookies who have recently graduated onto the main tour for the first time in their careers.
The format remains unchanged, with three group stages to be contested over the course of three weeks before the last two players standing contest the final.
Who is in the 2025 Championship League Snooker draw?
For stage one, an original field of 128 players have been divided into 32 groups of four players in each, with two group winners to be determined on each day.
Most of the marquee names have opted against entering, with the likes of world champion Zhao Xintong and world number one Judd Trump absent from the 2025 Championship League Snooker draw.
Shaun Murphy, the winner two years ago, is arguably the biggest name involved with reigning champion Ali Carter also in the lineup.
Prize Money
Stage One
Group Winner: £3,000
Runner-up: £2,000
3rd place: £1,000
Stage Two
Group Winner: £4,000
Runner-up: £3,000
3rd place: £2,000
4th place: £1,000
Stage Three:
Group Winner: £6000
Runner-up: £4,000
3rd place: £2,000
4th place: £1,000
The Final:
Winner: £20,000
Runner-up: £10,000
With Mark Williams, John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, and Ding Junhui among the other big players having not entered, there is perhaps an opening for a lower-ranked player to mount a serious challenge.
The eventual winner on July 23rd will take home total prize money worth £33,000 – earnings that snooker fans can only dream of pocketing by visiting new online casinos at FruitySlots where welcome bonuses and free spins are on offer.
There is also a lucrative spot in the prestigious Champion of Champions invitational tournament at stake.
The information for the Championship League Snooker draw, including the dates for Stage One, is below.
2025 Championship League Snooker
Stage One Draw
| Group 1 July 14th | Group 2 July 4th | Group 3 July 1st | Group 4 July 12th |
| Barry Hawkins | Zhang Anda | Shaun Murphy | Si Jiahui |
| Haris Tahir | Chris Totten | Robbie McGuigan | Farakh Ajaib |
| Haydon Pinhey | Cheung Ka Wai | Bulcsu Revesz | Artemijs Zizins |
| John Astley | George Pragnall | Alfie Burden | Kayden Brierley |
| Group 5 July 16th | Group 6 July 7th | Group 7 July 7th | Group 8 July 11th |
| Chris Wakelin | Ali Carter | Gary Wilson | Tom Ford |
| Mitchell Mann | Huang Jiahao | Bai Yulu | Mink Nutcharut |
| Julien Leclercq | Liam Davies | Amir Sarkhosh | Allan Taylor |
| Daniel Womersley | Jack Bradford | Alex Clenshaw | Simon Blackwell |
| Group 9 July 3rd | Group 10 July 10th | Group 11 July 5th | Group 12 July 9th |
| Wu Yize | Jak Jones | Stuart Bingham | David Gilbert |
| Kreishh Gurbaxani | Jonas Luz | Hatem Yassen | Duane Jones |
| Wang Yuchen | Ben Mertens | Antoni Kowalski | Louis Heathcote |
| Craig Steadman | Alfie Davies | Halim Hussain | Paul Deaville |
| Group 13 Julu 8th | Group 14 July 8th | Group 15 Jun 30th | Group 16 July 16th |
| Jack Lisowski | Pang Junxu | Stephen Maguire | Joe O’Connor |
| Ross Muir | Jiang Jun | Michael Holt | Zak Surety |
| Gong Chenzhi | Oliver Lines | Liam Graham | Liam Pullen |
| Ashley Carty | Dean Young | James Cahill | Andrew Pagett |
| Group 17 July 5th | Group 18 July 2nd | Group 19 July 9th | Group 20 July 14th |
| Elliot Slessor | Yuan Sijun | Lei Peifan | Zhou Yuelong |
| Stan Moody | Sanderson Lam | Mateusz Baranowski | David Lilley |
| Oliver Brown | Alexander Ursenbacher | Long Zehuang | David Grace |
| Mark Lloyd | Stuart Carrington | Ryan Davies | Ashley Hugill |
| Group 21 July 11th | Group 22 July 1st | Group 23 July 10th | Group 24 July 15th |
| Noppon Saengkham | Matthew Selt | Jimmy Robertson | Jackson Page |
| Ian Burns | Scott Donaldson | Mark Davis | Jordan Brown |
| Liu Hongyu | Fergal Quinn | Sam Craigie | Liu Wenwei |
| Patrick Whelan | Umut Dikme | Connor Benzey | Zack Richardson |
| Group 25 July 2nd | Group 26 June 30th | Group 27 July 17th | Group 28 July 3rd |
| Ryan Day | Lyu Haotian | Aaron Hill | Ricky Walden |
| Matthew Stevens | Jamie Jones | Dylan Emery | Robert Milkins |
| Xu Yichen | Zhao Hanyang | Sahil Nayyar | Chang Bingyu |
| Lan Yuhao | Yao Pengcheng | Gary Thomson | Steven Hallworth |
| Group 29 July 17th | Group 30 July 12th | Group 31 July 15th | Group 32 July 4th |
| Xu Si | Ben Woollaston | Martin O’Donnell | Daniel Wells |
| Fan Zhengyi | Robbie Williams | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | He Guoqiang |
| Liam Highfield | Florian Nuessle | Gao Yang | Ng On Yee |
| Michal Szubarczyk | Iulian Boiko | Reanne Evans | Leone Crowley |
How to watch?
Live coverage of Championship League Snooker will be available on various platforms depending on your location in the world.
As per the Championship League Snooker website, these are the available options:
Table 1 coverage will be available via international broadcast partners listed below. Table 2 matches will be streamed live on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel. Fans in the UK and Ireland, or in any country without a listed broadcaster, can watch Table 1 action live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
Broadcast Partners:
- Fox Sports – Australia
- Maincast – Ukraine
- Nova – Czechia & Slovakia
- Rigour – China
- Viaplay – Iceland
- Viaplay – Netherlands
- Viasat – Scandinavia
Featured photo credit: WST
Here goes snookers marathon. It used to be the world championships that people said that of. Now its…….this tournament.
Well yes, but this tournament last for only 21 days whereas the World Championship is 27 days.
But really the Summer Championship League only makes sense as a sort of pre-season. A chance for players to get going again after a holiday. To have it after the Wuhan and British qualifiers doesn’t make sense. The calendar undermines all three of the events.