# 2019–20 Championship League

The 2019–2020 Championship League was a professional snooker tournament, taking place over most of the 2019-20 snooker season from 7 October 2019 to 5 March 2020 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. The event features seven group stages before a finals stage in March 2020; the first four played in October, two in January, and the final group played in March. It was the 13th staging of the Championship League. The event featured a total prize fund of £182,400 with the winner receiving £20,700. The losing finalist received £6,000 more than the winner due to having played in all groups starting from Group 3.
Martin Gould was the defending champion, having won the 2019 edition of the tournament, beating Jack Lisowski 3–1 in the final. However, Gould did not participate in this event. Scott Donaldson won the tournament, having qualified from group four and defeated Graeme Dott 3–0 in the final. This was the first professional snooker title of Donaldson's career.

## Tournament format

The Championship League was a professional snooker event that took place between 7 October 2019 to 5 March 2020 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. All matches were the best of 5 frames, and played as a round-robin, with seven groups consisting of seven players. From each group the top four players qualified for a knockout round, the winner of which qualified for an eighth "winners group". The lowest two players of each group are eliminated and the remaining four move to the next group, where they are joined by three more participants.
The winners group is played in the same way, with the winner of the knockout phase named as champion, and a place at the 2020 Champion of Champions. The event was sponsored by sports betting company BetVictor; and was broadcast via streaming on various betting websites, as well as on zhibo.tv in China.

### Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the 2019–20 Championship League is shown below.
* Tournament total: £182,400

## Tournament summary

Group 1 was played on 7 and 8 October 2019, where Neil Robertson defeated Ryan Day 3–2 in the final. The second group was played on 9 and 10 October, with Stuart Bingham defeating Mark Selby 3–1 to win the group. After this, Selby and Barry Hawkins declined to continue, and were replaced by Xiao Guodong and Ben Woollaston, but both were eliminated in the third group. Group 3 was played on 21 and 22 October 2019, with Gary Wilson defeating Kyren Wilson 3–0. The group 3 matches saw a record number of century breaks made in a Championship League group with a total of 24, beating the record of 23 from the previous year's Winners' Group.
The fourth group was played on 23 and 24 October 2019. Scott Donaldson defeated compatriot Graeme Dott 3–0 in the final. Group 5 was played on 6 and 7 January 2020. Mark Williams won all six of his group matches, but lost in the first round against David Gilbert 2–3. Anthony McGill defeated Gilbert in the final to win the group. On 8 and 9 January 2020 in group six; Judd Trump won after a 3–1 victory over Graeme Dott. Trump also made the highest break of the tournament, a 145 in group six. Group 7 was played on 2 and 3 March 2020. Dott defeated Williams 3–1 to be the last qualifier.
The Winners' Group was played on 4 and 5 March 2020. On the first day, Trump made his 700th career century break in his round-robin match against McGill. The four players who qualified from the Winner's Group were Trump, Dott, McGill and Donaldson. Donaldson defeated Trump 3–1, whilst Dott beat Williams 3–2. Donaldson won his first professional tournament with a 3–0 victory over Dott in the final. Due to the additional prizes for frame wins, Donaldson was awarded a total of £20,700 throughout the tournament.

## Group 1

Group 1 was played on 7 and 8 October 2019. Neil Robertson was the first player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | Barry Hawkins (ENG) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 8 | +10 | Qualification to Group 1 play-off |
| 2 | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 11 | +2 | Qualification to Group 1 play-off |
| 3 | Mark Selby (ENG) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | Qualification to Group 1 play-off |
| 4 | Ryan Day (WAL) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 14 | −1 | Qualification to Group 1 play-off |
| 5 | Jack Lisowski (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 14 | −2 | Advances into Group 2 |
| 6 | Jimmy Robertson (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −4 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Luca Brecel (BEL) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | −5 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| Barry Hawkins (ENG) | 0 |
| Ryan Day (WAL) | 3 | | |
| Ryan Day (WAL) | 3 | Ryan Day (WAL) | 2 |
| | | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 3 |
| Neil Robertson (AUS) | 3 | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 3 |
| Mark Selby (ENG) | 2 | | |

## Group 2

Group 2 was played on 9 and 10 October 2019. Stuart Bingham was the second player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 7 | +10 | Qualification to Group 2 play-off |
| 2 | Gary Wilson (ENG) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | Qualification to Group 2 play-off |
| 3 | Stuart Bingham (ENG) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 0 | Qualification to Group 2 play-off |
| 4 | Mark Selby (ENG) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 9 | +6 | Qualification to Group 2 play-off |
| 5 | Barry Hawkins (ENG) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 13 | −1 | Advances into Group 3 |
| 6 | Ryan Day (WAL) | 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 15 | −8 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Jack Lisowski (ENG) | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 17 | −11 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 1 |
| Mark Selby (ENG) | 3 | | |
| Mark Selby (ENG) | 3 | Mark Selby (ENG) | 1 |
| | | Stuart Bingham (ENG) | 3 |
| Gary Wilson (ENG) | 0 | Stuart Bingham (ENG) | 3 |
| Stuart Bingham (ENG) | 3 | | |

## Group 3

Group 3 was played on 21 and 22 October 2019. Gary Wilson was the third player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

### Matches
#### Note

Barry Hawkins and Mark Selby withdrew from the tournament prior to group 3 play.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | Gary Wilson (ENG) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 11 | +5 | Qualification to Group 3 play-off |
| 2 | Tom Ford (ENG) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | Qualification to Group 3 play-off |
| 3 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 0 | Qualification to Group 3 play-off |
| 4 | Matthew Selt (ENG) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 14 | −2 | Qualification to Group 3 play-off |
| 5 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 12 | −1 | Advances into Group 4 |
| 6 | Xiao Guodong (CHN) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −4 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Ben Woollaston (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 15 | −6 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| Gary Wilson (ENG) | 3 |
| Matthew Selt (ENG) | 1 | | |
| Matthew Selt (ENG) | 1 | Gary Wilson (ENG) | 3 |
| | | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 0 |
| Tom Ford (ENG) | 2 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 0 |
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 3 | | |

## Group 4

Group 4 was played on 23 and 24 October 2019. Scott Donaldson was the fourth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | Scott Donaldson (SCO) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 8 | +9 | Qualification to Group 4 play-off |
| 2 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 12 | +5 | Qualification to Group 4 play-off |
| 3 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 13 | +2 | Qualification to Group 4 play-off |
| 4 | Joe Perry (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 14 | −2 | Qualification to Group 4 play-off |
| 5 | Tom Ford (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | Advances into Group 5 |
| 6 | Ali Carter (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Matthew Selt (ENG) | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 17 | −8 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| Scott Donaldson (SCO) | 3 |
| Joe Perry (ENG) | 2 | | |
| Joe Perry (ENG) | 2 | Scott Donaldson (SCO) | 3 |
| | | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 0 |
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 2 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 0 |
| Graeme Dott (SCO) | 3 | | |

## Group 5

Group 5 was played on 6 and 7 January 2020. Anthony McGill was the fifth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | Mark Williams (WAL) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 5 | +13 | Qualification to Group 5 play-off |
| 2 | Joe Perry (ENG) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | Qualification to Group 5 play-off |
| 3 | Anthony McGill (SCO) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | Qualification to Group 5 play-off |
| 4 | David Gilbert (ENG) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 13 | −2 | Qualification to Group 5 play-off |
| 5 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 14 | −3 | Advances into Group 6 |
| 6 | Tom Ford (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −4 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 14 | −5 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| Mark Williams (WAL) | 2 |
| David Gilbert (ENG) | 3 | | |
| David Gilbert (ENG) | 3 | David Gilbert (ENG) | 2 |
| | | Anthony McGill (SCO) | 3 |
| Joe Perry (ENG) | 2 | Anthony McGill (SCO) | 3 |
| Anthony McGill (SCO) | 3 | | |

## Group 6

Group 6 was played on 8 and 9 January 2020. Judd Trump was the sixth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | David Gilbert (ENG) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 10 | +6 | Qualification to Group 6 play-off |
| 2 | Judd Trump (ENG) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 10 | +4 | Qualification to Group 6 play-off |
| 3 | John Higgins (SCO) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 13 | +1 | Qualification to Group 6 play-off |
| 4 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | Qualification to Group 6 play-off |
| 5 | Mark Williams (WAL) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | Advances into Group 7 |
| 6 | Joe Perry (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 14 | −3 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Mark King (ENG) | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 18 | −12 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| David Gilbert (ENG) | 2 |
| Graeme Dott (SCO) | 3 | | |
| Graeme Dott (SCO) | 3 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 2 |
| | | Judd Trump (ENG) | 3 |
| Judd Trump (ENG) | 3 | Judd Trump (ENG) | 3 |
| John Higgins (SCO) | 1 | | |

## Group 7

Group 7 was played on 2 and 3 March 2020. Graeme Dott was the seventh and final player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | John Higgins (SCO) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 4 | +13 | Qualification to Group 7 play-off |
| 2 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | Qualification to Group 7 play-off |
| 3 | David Gilbert (ENG) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 11 | +2 | Qualification to Group 7 play-off |
| 4 | Mark Williams (WAL) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | Qualification to Group 7 play-off |
| 5 | Lyu Haotian (CHN) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 14 | −5 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 6 | Ricky Walden (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | −5 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Robert Milkins (ENG) | 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 16 | −9 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| John Higgins (SCO) | 1 |
| Mark Williams (WAL) | 3 | | |
| Mark Williams (WAL) | 3 | Mark Williams (WAL) | 1 |
| | | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 3 |
| Graeme Dott (SCO) | 3 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 3 |
| David Gilbert (ENG) | 0 | | |

## Winners' Group

The Winners' Group was played on 4 and 5 March 2020. Scott Donaldson defeated Graeme Dott to win the tournament.

### Table

| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
| 1 | Judd Trump (ENG) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 7 | +11 | Qualification to Winners' Group play-off |
| 2 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 9 | +7 | Qualification to Winners' Group play-off |
| 3 | Anthony McGill (SCO) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 13 | +1 | Qualification to Winners' Group play-off |
| 4 | Scott Donaldson (SCO) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | Qualification to Winners' Group play-off |
| 5 | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 13 | −2 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 6 | Stuart Bingham (ENG) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | −5 | Eliminated from the competition |
| 7 | Gary Wilson (ENG) | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 18 | −12 | Eliminated from the competition |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames |
| Judd Trump (ENG) | 1 |
| Scott Donaldson (SCO) | 3 | | |
| Scott Donaldson (SCO) | 3 | Scott Donaldson (SCO) | 3 |
| | | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 0 |
| Graeme Dott (SCO) | 3 | Graeme Dott (SCO) | 0 |
| Anthony McGill (SCO) | 2 | | |

## Century breaks

A total of 104 century breaks were made during the event.
* 145 (6), 139 (W), 132, 128, 127, 127, 122, 120, 117, 114, 107, 100 – Judd Trump
* 143 (4), 125, 121, 110, 109, 107, 106, 105, 105, 101, 100, 100, 100 – Kyren Wilson
* 140, 132, 126, 118, 106, 105, 103, 100 – Graeme Dott
* 139 (5), 126, 115, 109, 106 – Tom Ford
* 138, 128, 121, 114, 111 – Joe Perry
* 138, 117, 105, 103, 101 – David Gilbert
* 137, 135, 116, 109, 107, 105 – Mark Williams
* 137, 114, 114, 108 – Anthony McGill
* 134 (2), 133, 131 (1), 130, 117 – Mark Selby
* 134 (3), 132, 132, 125, 119, 108, 105, 103, 101, 100 – Gary Wilson
* 134, 130, 118, 108, 101 – Stuart Bingham
* 134 (3), 127, 113, 109 – Xiao Guodong
* 133, 130 (7), 121, 109, 107, 101 – John Higgins
* 132 – Ben Woollaston
* 129, 116, 102 – Barry Hawkins
* 126, 101 – Ryan Day
* 125 – Lyu Haotian
* 118, 111 – Neil Robertson
* 111 – Scott Donaldson
* 108, 101 – Jack Lisowski
* 107, 101, 101 – Jimmy Robertson
* 103 – Matthew Selt
Bold: highest break in the indicated group.

## Winnings

| No. | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | W | TOTAL |
| 1 | Graeme Dott (SCO) (21) | | | 1,100 | 4,400 | 1,100 | 4,900 | 6,100 | 9,100 | 26,700 |
| 2 | Scott Donaldson (SCO) (29) | | | | 6,500 | | | | 14,200 | 20,700 |
| 3 | Judd Trump (ENG) (1) | | | | | | 6,700 | | 7,900 | 14,600 |
| 4 | Anthony McGill (SCO) (26) | | | | | 5,900 | | | 6,400 | 12,300 |
| 5 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) (9) | | 3,000 | 4,300 | 3,800 | 900 | | | | 12,000 |
| 6 | Gary Wilson (ENG) (19) | | 2,300 | 6,650 | | | | | 1,200 | 10,150 |
| 7 | David Gilbert (ENG) (12) | | | | | 4,600 | 3,200 | 2,300 | | 10,100 |
| 8 | Mark Williams (WAL) (3) | | | | | 3,400 | 1,400 | 4,300 | | 9,100 |
| 9 | Mark Selby (ENG) (5) | 3,300 | 5,200 | | | | | | | 8,500 |
| 10 | Neil Robertson (AUS) (4) | 6,100 | | | | | | | 2,200 | 8,300 |
| 11 | Stuart Bingham (ENG) (13) | | 6,100 | | | | | | 1,600 | 7,700 |
| 12 | Joe Perry (ENG) (16) | | | | 2,800 | 3,000 | 1,100 | | | 6,900 |
| 13 | John Higgins (SCO) (6) | | | | | | 2,700 | 3,500 | | 6,200 |
| 14 | Tom Ford (ENG) (25) | | | 3,200 | 1,200 | 1,600 | | | | 6,000 |
| 15 | Ryan Day (WAL) (20) | 4,800 | 700 | | | | | | | 5,500 |
| 16 | Barry Hawkins (ENG) (10) | 2,800 | 1,200 | | | | | | | 4,000 |
| 17 | Matthew Selt (ENG) (28) | | | 2,500 | 900 | | | | | 3,400 |
| 18 | Jack Lisowski (ENG) (11) | 1,200 | 600 | | | | | | | 1,800 |
| 19 | Xiao Guodong (CHN) (23) | | | 1,350 | | | | | | 1,350 |
| 20 | Ali Carter (ENG) (17) | | | | 1,200 | | | | | 1,200 |
| 21 | Jimmy Robertson (ENG) (22) | 1,000 | | | | | | | | 1,000 |
| = | Luca Brecel (BEL) (27) | 1,000 | | | | | | | | 1,000 |
| 23 | Ben Woollaston (ENG) (40) | | | 900 | | | | | | 900 |
| = | Lyu Haotian (CHN) (24) | | | | | | | 900 | | 900 |
| 25 | Ricky Walden (ENG) (30) | | | | | | | 800 | | 800 |
| 26 | Robert Milkins (ENG) (39) | | | | | | | 700 | | 700 |
| 27 | Mark King (ENG) (32) | | | | | | 600 | | | 600 |
| | Total prize money | 20,200 | 19,100 | 20,000 | 20,800 | 20,500 | 20,600 | 18,600 | 42,600 | 182,400 |
Green: Won the group. Bold: Highest break in the group. All prize money in GBP. Parenthesis: Ranking prior to tournament start, 7 October 2019.