Champion of Champions 2016 – Bucharest Update
Victory for Judd Trump at the new European Masters tournament on Sunday means that we now know 13 of the 16 players who will be competing in this year’s Champion of Champions event in Coventry next month.
With Trump already qualified for the event, following his victories at the Champion of Champions and China Open events last season, Mark Davis is now assured of his place thanks to his victory at the World Seniors Championship in Preston.
Qualification for the event will be determined by the results of professional tournaments dating back to Neil Robertson’s victory at the event in 2015, events having been ordered in a specific line of priority.
Players currently qualified are set out below, numbered by qualification priority, not seeding:
1. 2015 Champion of Champions – Neil Robertson (1)
2. 2015 UK Championship – Neil Robertson
3. 2016 Masters – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
4. 2016 German Masters – Martin Gould (3)
5. 2016 Welsh Open – Ronnie O’Sullivan
6. 2016 Championship League Snooker – Judd Trump (4)
7. 2016 World Grand Prix – Shaun Murphy (5)
8. 2016 Players Championship – Mark Allen (6)
9. 2016 China Open – Judd Trump
10. 2016 World Championship – Mark Selby (7)
11. 2016 Indian Open (July) – Anthony McGill (8)
12. 2016 World Open (July) – Ali Carter (9)
13. 2016 Shanghai Masters (Sept) – Ding Junhui (10)
14. 2016 European Masters (Oct) – Judd Trump
15. 2016 English Open (Oct) – tbc
16. 2016 International Championship (Oct) – tbc
17. 2016 China Championship (Nov) – tbc
18. 2015 Gibraltar Open – Marco Fu (11)
19. 2016 Gdynia Open – Mark Selby
20. 2016 Riga Masters – Neil Robertson
21. 2016 Paul Hunter Classic (Aug) – Mark Selby
22. 2016 World Championship runner-up – Ding Junhui
23. 2016 Shoot Out – Robin Hull (12)
24. 2016 6 Reds World Championship (Sep) – Ding Junhui
25. 2016 World Seniors Championship – Mark Davis (13)
With the 13 players bolded above now guaranteed to be at the Ricoh Arena, the winners of the remaining three events are guaranteed to join them if they are not already qualified.
But what if any of those tournaments are won by ‘repeat’ winners? Any ‘top up’ players required will be selected from the one-year ranking list, including prize money earned during the 2016/17 season only. Following the European Masters the top players on that list, including prize money already guaranteed by qualification for the International Championship, are:
1. Joe Perry £45,050
2. Michael Holt £44,775
3. Stuart Bingham £40,087
4. Stephen Maguire £36,500
5. Kyren Wilson £32,025*
6. John Higgins £31,000**
7. David Gilbert £29,900
8. Ryan Day £28,362
9. Mark Williams £26,250
10. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh £25,500*
*not competing at the International Championship
**still to play opening match at the International Championship
A maximum of three players can still qualify through this list, if each of the remaining three qualifying events are won by players not already qualified for the Champion of Champions.
Another place is up for grabs this week in Manchester, with the Coral English Open already underway at Event City.
