Champion of Champions 2017 – Barnsley Update
With Ronnie O’Sullivan emerging victorious at the Dafabet English Open yesterday there is now just one qualifying event remaining before the final field is set for this year’s Champion of Champions tournament in Coventry.
With O’Sullivan already assured of his place following victory at the Masters back in January, his latest success means that China’s Liang Wenbo is now also guaranteed a place at the Ricoh Arena. This is because there is now just the International Championship remaining ahead of the all-important qualification cut-off, with Anthony McGill now the only player currently in line to qualify for the Champion of Champions, who can still be displaced.
As in previous seasons, qualification for the event will be determined by the winners of professional tournaments dating back to John Higgins victory in 2016, events having been ordered in a specific line of priority.
Players currently qualified are set out below, numbered by qualification priority, not seeding:
1. 2016 Champion of Champions – John Higgins (1)
2. 2016 UK Championship – Mark Selby (2)
3. 2017 Masters – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
4. 2017 World Championship – Mark Selby
5. 2017 German Masters – Anthony Hamilton (4)
6. 2017 World Grand Prix – Barry Hawkins (5)
7. 2017 Championship League Snooker – John Higgins
8. 2017 Players Championship – Judd Trump (6)
9. 2017 China Open – Mark Selby
10. 2017 China Championship – Luca Brecel (7)
11. 2017 Indian Open – John Higgins
12. 2017 World Open – Ding Junhui (8)
13. 2017 European Masters – Judd Trump
14. 2017 International Championship (Nov) – tbc
15. 2016 Northern Irish Open – Mark King (9)
16. 2016 Scottish Open – Marco Fu (10)
17. 2017 Welsh Open – Stuart Bingham (11)
18. 2017 English Open – Ronnie O’Sullivan
19. 2017 Gibraltar Open – Shaun Murphy (12)
20. 2017 World Championship runner-up – John Higgins
21. 2017 Riga Masters – Ryan Day (13)
22. 2017 Paul Hunter Classic (Aug) – Michael White (14)
23. 2017 World Cup – Ding Junhui
24. 2017 World Cup – Liang Wenbo (15)
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25. 2017 Shoot Out – Anthony McGill (16)
26. 2017 Hong Kong Masters – Neil Robertson (17)
27. 2017 Six Red World Championship – Mark Williams (18)
Who is safe?
As referred to previously, the first 15 bolded players (those above the dotted line), are now guaranteed to qualify to play at this year’s Champion of Champions, while Scotland’s Anthony McGill currently holds onto the 16th and final spot.
The two-time ranking event winner will retain that spot should either he emerge victorious in Daqing at the International Championship early next month, or one of the other 15 already qualified players walks away with the trophy in northeast China.
Looking to deny him however will be a number of big names including top 16 trio Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson, as well as the likes of Mark Williams, David Gilbert and Stephen Maguire. Or could we see a player from lower down the list grab a place as the likes of Ryan Day, Luca Brecel and Michael White have done already so far this season?
The International Championship runs from 29 Novemer – 5 November 2017 in Daqing, following which the final field will be set.
Learn more about the Champion of Champions at the tournament website.
