PREVIEW: 2020 Champion of Champions

This season is being taken up another level after three ranking events. The Champion of Champions was only reintroduced to the calendar in 2013 and yet it has become one of the fan favourites. Any tournament that gathers champions into one event has prestige. Some regard it among the Top 5 most significant tournaments in the current calendar.

There were some cracking finals over the past seven years. The most famous ones include Ronnie O’Sullivan beating Stuart Bingham (2013) and Kyren Wilson (2018) and Shaun Murphy defeating the Rocket (2017).

It would be tough to beat last season’s final. Neil Robertson and Judd Trump put on a spectacular show, composing eight centuries and fifteen half-centuries between them. The match produced an amazing climax too. Trump led 9-8 by taking a frame despite needing a snooker. But Robertson forced a decider and won it on a re-spotted black, despite needing a snooker as well! Robertson needed one chance in the final frame and compiled a 137 break to lift his second Champion of Champions trophy.

Now the tournament is back! It is back but with just a few changes…

From Coventry to Milton Keynes

The Ricoh Arena in Coventry proved very popular among players and fans since Matchroom Sport revived the series in 2013. But it was decided back in November 2019 that the venue was moved to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes. It is just as well that the organisers made this change because every tournament this season has taken place in Milton Keynes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to current government guidelines around fans at sporting events, the venue will be behind closed doors. But during the live draw, Managing Director Emily Frazer says they hope to change the arena design, the walk-ins jazzier and engage the fans at home by sending in selfies to uplift the event. The selfies idea is very weird to me but whatever floats their boat. It will be live on ITV4 don’t forget and this will be brilliant to watch, excluding the potential selfies. It worry it will look like an extract from Black Mirror.

The Players

The players are invited to the event by winning a professional event. Others were invited due to their high ranking alone. This is because of the domination of some particular players (I’m looking at you, Judd) but we still have a very strong field. Every member of the sixteen professionals, four aren’t currently in the Top 16.

The players are below:

• Neil Robertson (2019 Champion of Champions, 2020 European Masters, 2020 World Grand Prix)
• Ronnie O’Sullivan (2020 World Championship)
• Judd Trump (2019 Northern Ireland Open, 2020 German Masters, 2020 Players Championship, 2020 Gibraltar Open, 2020 English Open)
• Mark Selby (2019 Scottish Open, 2020 European Masters (2))
• Stuart Bingham (2020 Masters)
• Ding Junhui (2019 UK Championship)
• Stephen Maguire (2020 Tour Championship)
• Shaun Murphy (2020 Welsh Open)
• Kyren Wilson (2020 Championship League (2), 2020 World Championship runner-up)
• Michael Holt (2020 Snooker Shoot-Out)
• Scott Donaldson (2019-2020 Championship League)
• Luca Brecel (2020 Championship League)
• Jimmy White (2020 World Seniors Championship)
• John Higgins, Mark Allen and David Gilbert (Ranking List Top-Ups)

The Draw

I will not succumb to the pressure of referring some draws as ‘groups’. Here is the draw!

Neil Robertson (1) vs. Jimmy White

John Higgins vs. Ding Junhui

Semi-finalist: Neil Robertson vs. John Higgins

Kyren Wilson vs. Stephen Maguire

Mark Selby (4) vs. Luca Brecel

Semi-finalist: Kyren Wilson vs. Mark Selby

Judd Trump (3) vs. Stuart Bingham

Shaun Murphy vs. David Gilbert

Semi-finalist: Judd Trump vs. Shaun Murphy

Mark Allen vs. Scott Donaldson

Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) vs. Michael Holt

Semi-finalist: Mark Allen vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan

Winner: Mark Selby vs. Judd Trump

The 2020 ManBetX Champion of Champions will take place at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England on 2 and 8 November 2020.