Winning a tournament in professional snooker is hard. Winning a tournament against only people who have also won tournaments? That’s a whole different level of stress. That is essentially the logic behind the Champion of Champions snooker event. It’s an invitational that doesn’t hand out ranking points, yet players want it more than almost anything else on the calendar.
Honestly, the prestige comes from the entry requirements. You can’t just be "good" or have a high ranking to get in most of the time. You have to lift a trophy somewhere else first. It’s the ultimate "prove it" stage.
The 2025 Shake-up: Mark Selby’s Leicester Fairytale
If you followed the most recent edition in November 2025, you saw something pretty special. Mark Selby, the "Jester from Leicester," finally grabbed this title on his home turf at the Mattioli Arena.
It wasn't just that he won; it was how he did it. He faced Judd Trump in the final—a man who seems to make the Champion of Champions final every time he picks up a cue. Trump has actually been in six of these finals and lost five of them. That is a heartbreaking stat for a player of his caliber.
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Selby was clinical. He trailed 3-1 early on but then flipped a switch. He rattled off three centuries in a row toward the end, including a tournament-high 138, to win 10-5. Trump was visibly struggling with his cue—he’d been having ferrule issues for weeks—but you can’t take anything away from Selby. Winning £150,000 in your home city? You couldn't script it better.
How Do You Actually Get an Invite?
The qualification process for the Champion of Champions snooker is famously cutthroat. Matchroom Sport, the promoters, have a specific hierarchy. They don't just pick names out of a hat.
Basically, the winners of the "Big Three" (World Championship, UK Championship, and The Masters) are the first names on the sheet. Then they work through the other ranking events. If they still haven't reached 16 players, they start looking at non-ranking events like the Shanghai Masters or the Championship League.
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The 2026 Controversy
There's already drama brewing for the 2026 event. The organizers recently announced the new qualifying criteria, and they’ve stirred the pot by omitting the World Seniors Champion from the automatic list.
Jason Francis, who runs the Seniors Tour, was fuming on social media about it. It feels like a bit of a snub to the veterans. In 2025, we saw players like Alfie Burden and even the legendary Zhao Xintong (returning as an amateur after his ban) get into the mix. For 2026, the slots are going to be even tighter.
Current guaranteed spots for 2026 include:
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- Mark Selby (Defending Champion)
- Zhao Xintong (Riyadh Season Champion)
- Wu Yize (International Championship winner)
Why This Format Is Better Than Ranking Events
Most snooker tournaments follow a "flat draw" where 128 players start and slowly get whittled down. It can be a slog. The Champion of Champions snooker uses a group format that is much more "sprint" than "marathon."
Four players play on a single day. You have two semi-finals in the afternoon (best of 7) and then the winners play a final in the evening (best of 11). It’s brutal. If you have a bad afternoon, you’re on the train home before dinner.
- High Intensity: Every match feels like a final because, well, everyone involved is a champion.
- The "Specialist" Shirts: Since 2021, players have ditched the traditional waistcoats for polo-style shirts with nicknames on the back. Some fans hate it. Some think it’s a breath of fresh air.
- The Money: With a £150,000 top prize, it rivals the major ranking events for payout, despite being a shorter week of work.
A Legacy of Greatness
Looking back, Ronnie O’Sullivan has historically owned this event. He’s won it four times (2013, 2014, 2018, 2022). But the tide is shifting. We’re seeing a more diverse spread of winners now. Mark Allen has been a beast in this tournament recently, winning in 2020 and 2023.
The 2024 final was also a bit of an "old school" masterclass. Mark Williams, nearly 50 years old, beat Xiao Guodong 10-6. Williams is proof that in snooker, "old" is a relative term. He hadn't even won a match in this tournament in three previous attempts before he went and won the whole thing.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Aspiring Players
If you want to keep up with the Champion of Champions snooker or improve your own understanding of the game’s elite level, here is what you should do:
- Watch the Group Finals: The best-of-11 evening sessions are often higher quality than the actual tournament final because the players are warmed up from the afternoon but not yet exhausted by a long week.
- Track the Qualifying List: Keep an eye on the World Snooker Tour winners throughout the season. By the time we hit the British Open or the Northern Ireland Open in late 2026, the race for the final CoC spots becomes a massive subplot.
- Study Selby’s 2025 Run: If you play snooker, go back and watch Selby’s safety play against Trump in the 2025 final. It wasn't just about the centuries; it was how he locked Trump up and forced the mistakes.
- Check the Broadcaster: 2025 was the last year for ITV Sport’s coverage. For 2026, you’ll need to check the new Matchroom production schedules as the TV rights have shifted.