The 2024 Champion of Champions is scheduled to happen subsequent month on the Toughsheet Group Stadium in Bolton.
The celebrated invitational, an annual fixture on the calendar since 2013, is pencilled in for November eleventh to seventeenth, and tickets are on sale.
Nevertheless, particulars on the qualifying standards for this yr’s version and who can be cueing as much as take part stay unknown.
Whereas an announcement is unquestionably imminent, it’s fairly late within the day to be revealing how gamers will achieve an invite in 2024, and who attending followers can be there to look at.
The Champion of Champions is promoted by Matchroom Sport and doesn’t boast rating factors, that means the 16-strong subject might be decided in any method they see match.
Usually, although, the sector is ready by winners from numerous snooker excursions over the course of the final 12-month interval.
Who will achieve a Champion of Champions invite?
Mark Allen gained the 2023 Champion of Champions with a 10-3 defeat of Judd Trump within the ultimate – including to his prior success within the match from three years earlier.
Allen has additionally gained the Snooker Shoot Out and the Gamers Championship since, so the Northern Irishman will certainly obtain a crack at capturing the crown for a 3rd time.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is the report four-time Champion of Champions winner, and the Rocket can be invited once more this yr after a stellar 2023/24 marketing campaign.
O’Sullivan gained the UK Championship, the Masters, the World Grand Prix, and the World Masters of Snooker since final yr’s Champion of Champions.
Whether or not or not the 48 year-old accepts his invitation can be one other matter, with O’Sullivan skipping final yr’s occasion citing well being points regardless of being the defending champion on the time.
Judd Trump, a winner again in 2021, is equally a four-time winner of occasions throughout the final yr or so – bagging silverware on the German Masters, the World Open, the Shanghai Masters, and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Former runner-up Kyren Wilson will clearly get a chance to go one higher in 2024 following his World Snooker Championship success in Might.
Different gamers who we’ll very possible see within the draw are Gary Wilson and Mark Selby, who’ve every gained two titles within the final yr.
Wilson secured double glory on the Residence Nations collection with victories within the Scottish and Welsh Opens, whereas Selby gained the invitational model of Championship League Snooker along with the current British Open.
Tour Championship winner Mark Williams, English Open champion Neil Robertson, and Championship League Snooker (rating model) winner Ali Carter may also in all probability be seen in Bolton.
Champion of Champions prize cash
Champion: £150,000
Runner-up: £60,000
Semi-finals: £30,000
Group runner-up: £17,500
Group semi-finals: £12,500
Complete: £440,000
That solely equates to 9 out of the 16 spots which are often up for grabs within the Champion of Champions draw.
In earlier years, the World Snooker Championship runner-up has been included, that means Jak Jones may characteristic on the match for the primary time in his profession.
There may be locations out there for reigning ladies’s world champion Bai Yulu and Igor Figueiredo, who lifted the 2024 World Seniors Championship crown.
Luca Brecel and Reanne Evans paired as much as win the World Combined Doubles and will doubtlessly be rewarded with locations within the competitors.
This week’s Wuhan Open provides one of many final possibilities for gamers not already certified to seal their spots within the occasion.
The upcoming Northern Eire Open in Belfast and the next Worldwide Championship in Nanjing will possible characterize the remaining two alternatives.
Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui, Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui, John Higgins, and Tom Ford are present members of the highest 16 on the official rankings listing who haven’t gained something and are provisionally set to overlook out.
Previously when the 16 names couldn’t be occupied by current champions, the world rankings listing has been used to prime up the numbers.
Who’re the previous winners?
An identical Champion of Champions match was staged all the way in which again in 1978 with Ray Reardon beating Alex Higgins within the inaugural version, earlier than Doug Mountjoy gained the prize in 1980.
It wasn’t till 2013 that the match was revived, and maybe unsurprisingly Ronnie O’Sullivan emerged as the primary winner of the reboot.
The Englishman has gained the title a report 4 occasions, repeating his preliminary success in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
He has additionally completed runner-up twice – in 2016 when he was denied by John Higgins and once more 12 months later when Shaun Murphy pipped him to the publish.
Neil Robertson (2015 and 2019) and Mark Allen (2020 and 2023) are each two-time winners, whereas Judd Trump etched his title onto the trophy in 2022.
Extra particulars in regards to the particular lineup for 2024 can be printed on SnookerHQ.com when they’re introduced.
Featured picture credit score: Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
