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Champion of Champions (snooker)

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Champion of Champions
Tournament information
VenueRicoh Arena
LocationCoventry
CountryEngland
Established1978
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Matchroom Sport
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£300,000[1]
Current championScotland John Higgins

The Champion of Champions is a professional non-ranking snooker tournament. It was held in 1978 and 1980 and was then revived in 2013 by Matchroom Sport. The reigning champion is John Higgins.

The Champion of Champions features winners of World Snooker events over the preceding 12 months, with the field topped up, if necessary, from the current World Rankings. In 2015 the tournament had a prize fund of £300,000, of which £100,000 goes to the winner.

History

The event was created in 1978 by boxing promoter Mike Barrett.[2] The event was contested by four players at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.[3] It was played over two days with the semi-finals on the first day and the final on the second day. World Champion Ray Reardon beat the Masters winner Alex Higgins 11–9 in the final.[3] Brief highlights were shown on ITV's World of Sport on the following afternoon.[4]

The event was not held in 1979 but appeared again in 1980 at the New London Theatre in Drury Lane, London but in a different format. Ten players competed in the tournament, split into two groups. Each group played a round robin with the winners of the groups advancing to the final. Doug Mountjoy beat John Virgo 10–8 in the final. The tournament was then abandoned since the audiences had been poor and the event financially unsuccessful.[5]

The event was revived in 2013 by Matchroom Sport, replacing the Premier League Snooker on the calendar.[6] The event is held in November at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and contested by 16 of the world's leading players.[7] The event is broadcast live in the United Kingdom on ITV4.[8] The 2013 and 2014 tournaments were both won by Ronnie O'Sullivan but he chose not to defend the title in 2015.

Winners

Year Winner Runner-up Final score Season
1978[3] Wales Ray Reardon Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 11–9 1978/79
1980[5] Wales Doug Mountjoy England John Virgo 10–8 1980/81
2013[9] England Ronnie O'Sullivan England Stuart Bingham 10–8 2013/14
2014[10] England Ronnie O'Sullivan England Judd Trump 10–7 2014/15
2015[11] Australia Neil Robertson Northern Ireland Mark Allen 10–5 2015/16
2016[12] Scotland John Higgins England Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–7 2016/17

See also

References

  1. ^ "Prize Fund". Champion of Champions Snooker. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Snooker – World champion in semi-final faces Fagan". The Times. 2 November 1978. p. 13.
  3. ^ a b c "1978 Champion of Champions". cuetracker.net. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Weekend broadcasting – Personal choice". The Times. 5 November 1978. p. 11.
  5. ^ a b Turner, Chris. "Other Non-Ranking and Invition Events". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  6. ^ "O'Sullivan excited by new Champion of Champions event". ESPN. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  7. ^ "888Casino Champion Of Champions Snooker tickets on sale". AZ Billiards. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  8. ^ "ITV4 to Televise Champion of Champions". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "888casino Champion of Champions (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Dafabet Champion of Champions (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  11. ^ "188BET Champion of Champions (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Dafabet Champion of Champions (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
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