Stephen Maguire snapped a five-year title drought by winning the 2025 Championship League Snooker title on Wednesday in Leicester.
The Scot’s triumph at the Mattioli Arena takes his career tally of ranking crowns to seven and comes 21 years after his maiden victory at such a level.
Maguire hadn’t lifted silverware since the 2020 Tour Championship, which was staged behind closed doors as a result of the incoming COVID-19 pandemic.
In the subsequent years, the former world number two was only an intermittent presence at the business end of tournaments while his inconsistent form saw him slip permanently outside the world’s top 16.
The 44 year-old, who won the 2004 UK Championship, proved that there was still life in his career when he reached the Welsh Open final in February.
Now that the Glaswegian has returned to the champion’s enclosure, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact this has going forward.
There weren’t many star names in attendance at the 2025/26 snooker season’s opening tournament, but that won’t matter much to Maguire.
Winning breeds confidence, and as most will know, Maguire is a formidable and dangerous proposition for anyone when his confidence is high.
The two-time World Championship semi-finalist reached the third and final stage of Championship League Snooker with a record of five wins and a single draw.
In his concluding round-robin group, Maguire thumped both Matthew Selt and Ben Mertens 3-0 with a hat-trick of half-century contributions.
Losing his remaining game against Pang Junxu proved to be immaterial as none of the three players behind him in the league could catch him on six points.
Advancing to the competition’s overall final, Maguire faced stern opposition in Joe O’Connor who had won all nine of his group fixtures.
In Stage Three, the Englishman lived up to his tag as the favourite at the start of the day’s play by defeating Ricky Walden, Xu Si, and Tom Ford.
O’Connor, chasing a maiden ranking title after two prior misses in finals, was put on the back foot immediately when Maguire compiled a break of 85 to take the first frame of the final.
In a sprint race to three, the latter subsequently moved to within the brink of glory by also winning the second frame with a run of 61.
O’Connor kept things interesting by producing a 99 contribution in the third frame, but the Leicester potter couldn’t force a decider.
Maguire got in first in the fourth and what proved to be the final frame, making a break of 89 to get his hands on the trophy.
“I’m just relieved. It has been a long event, Stephen Maguire, who first turned professional back in 1998, said afterwards.
“I have been up and down the motorway a few times but it’s a good reward in the end.”
“It felt different today, because there were eight players left and we knew someone was going home with the trophy.
“To be the last man standing and to win a title this early in the season, I’m delighted.
“It gives me a head start qualifying for the World Grand Prix and other events and gives me extra confidence.”
With ยฃ33,000 in total earnings from the event, Maguire takes the front in the one-year ranking lists which will lead to qualification for lucrative events later in the campaign.
A return to the prestigious Champion of Champions invitational for the first time since 2021 is another reward for his early-campaign efforts.
Wednesday’s Results
Group 1
Tom Ford 2-2 Xu Si
Joe O’Connor 3-1 Ricky Walden
Joe O’Connor 3-1 Xu Si
Tom Ford 2-2 Ricky Walden
Ricky Walden 3-0 Xu Si
Joe O’Connor 3-0 Tom Ford
Table
1. Joe O’Connor – 9 points
2. Ricky Walden – 4 points
3. Tom Ford – 2 points
4. Xu Si – 1 point
Group 2
Ben Mertens 3-0 Pang Junxu
Stephen Maguire 3-0 Matthew Selt
Stephen Maguire 3-0 Ben Mertens
Pang Junxu 2-2 Matthew Selt
Matthew Selt 2-2 Ben Mertens
Pang Junxu 3-1 Stephen Maguire
Table
1. Stephen Maguire – 6 points
2. Ben Mertens – 4 points
3. Pang Junxu – 4 points
4. Matthew Selt – 2 points
Championship League Snooker Final
Joe O’Connor 1-3 Stephen Maguire
Featured photo credit: WST
Not guaranteed to be in the Champion of Champions yet. He’s by my reckoning the 13th different winner of counting events since the last edition. The Scot would outrank Alfie Burden, Bai Yulu and Tom Ford (presumably CL trump’s the Shootout). There’s still eight bigger tournaments left prior to the next edition in Leicester. It’s unlikely seven different winners would materialise from this octet of events.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ding Junhui and Barry Hawkins are all yet to qualify.
Since Matchroom Sport organizes the two versions of the Championship League AND the Champion of Champions, I believe both winners of the CL are guaranteed to qualify.
Every time someone wins the CL, it is mentioned that they qualify for the CoC.
But I agree that those two winners should come behind the winners of all other ranking events (barring the Shootout), the Masters and the Shanghai Masters.
Indeed. As Ben has said, both Championship League editions represent automatic avenues to the Champion of Champions. Confirmed that Maguire has a spot this year.
That’s a rule I don’t agree with as someone could win a much bigger event and then miss out.
A baffling rule given the limited prestige of the Championship League.
I rarely watch the Championship League so this automatic entry was something I was unaware of.
109 centuries were made, more than in any previous edition of this ranking tournament, even though Maguire made only one.
Well done Maguire, personally I’m not convinced that his occasional upticks on the tour are not just due to a need for a fresh cash injection from his day job. He does operate his career differently from most pros.