2020 Championship League

The **2020 Championship League** (kent as the **2020 Matchroom.com Championship League** forby) wis a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that teuk place frae 1&nbsp;tae 11&nbsp;Juin 2020 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The event featurt 64 players frae the World Snooker Tour. It featurt three roonds of round-robin groups of fower. The initial group stage matches war played atween 1&nbsp;an 8&nbsp;Juin, wi the group winners' stage played on 9&nbsp;an 10&nbsp;Juin, afore the finals stage on 11&nbsp;Juin. It wis the 14t edition o the Championship League. It wis ane o the first live sporting events in the United Kingdom syne the stairt o the coronavirus lockdown in Mairch 2020.

Scott Donaldson won the previous edition o the tournament, beatin Graeme Dott 3–0 in the final. Houiver, Donaldson chose nae tae participate in the 2020 event. Luca Brecel won the event efter finishing tap o the final group ahead of Ben Woollaston, Stuart Bingham an Ryan Day. The event wis broadcast on ITV4 in the United Kingdom, Eurosport across Europe, Superstars Online, Youku an Zhibo.tv in Cheenae, Fox Sports in Australie an Sky in New Zealand. Elsewhere, the event wis broadcast on Matchroom Sport.

## Tournament format
The 2020 Championship League wis held atween 1&nbsp;an 11&nbsp;Juin 2020 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The tournament teuk place wioot an audience whilst maintaining social distancing. Oreeginally due tae tak place in Leicester, the event wis moved tae Milton Keynes acause o the on-site facilities at the venue, meanin that the players an officials did nae need tae leave the venue for the duration of thair involvement ance thay haed arrived. Aw players war testit for COVID-19 prior tae takkin pairt. The event wis sponsored bi Matchroom Sport an broadcast live domestically on ITV4. It wis broadcast bi Eurosport across Europe, Superstars Online, Youku an Zhibo.tv in Cheenae, Fox Sports in Australie an Sky in New Zealand an aw.

Thare war 64 snooker professionals who teuk pairt in the event. The competeetion began wi 16 roonds of group matches, each group consisting of fower players. Twa groups war played tae a finish every day frae 1&nbsp;tae 8&nbsp;Juin, uisin a twa-table setup in the arena. The groups war contested uisin a round-robin format, wi sax matches played in each group. Aw matches war played as best of fower frames, wi three pynts awairdit for a win an ane pynt for a draw. Group poseetions war determined bi pynts scored, frame difference an then heid-tae-heid results atween players who are tied. Places that war still tied war then determined bi the heichest break made in the group.

The 16 players that topped the group tables qualified for the group winners' stage, consisting of fower groups of fower players. Twa o the fower groups played tae a finish on 9&nbsp;Juin an the ither twa groups on 10&nbsp;Juin, again uisin twa tables. The fower winners frae the group winners' stage qualified for the tournament finals played on 11&nbsp;Juin uisin a single table. The winner of this final group teuk the Championship League title an a place at the 2020 Champion of Champions.

### Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for the tournament is shawn ablo.

;Group stage
*Winner: £4,000
*Runner-up: £2,000
*Third place: £1,500
*Fowert place: £1,000

;Group winners' stage
*Winner: £6,000
*Runner-up: £2,500
*Third place: £2,000
*Fowert place: £1,500

;Final group
*Winner: £20,000
*Runner-up: £8,000
*Third place: £4,000
*Fowert place: £2,000

***Tournament tot**: £218,000

## Tournament summary
### Group stages

The first round of group gemmes war played frae 1&nbsp;tae 8&nbsp;Juin. Reigning world champion Judd Trump won aw three group gemmes tae qualify frae group 2, losin a frame tae baith Elliot Slessor an Daniel Wells. David Gilbert drew his seicont match against Jak Jones, but won his match against Stuart Carrington 3-0 tae progress, wi Carrington scoring anly five pynts. Belgian player Luca Brecel an Englishman Jack Lisowski baith defeatit Oliver Lines an drew against Robbie Williams. Brecel made a break of 138 during his win ower Lines an teuk a 2-1 lead ower Lisowski. He required a break higher than 138, but wis unable, tying the match at 2-2, wi Brecel progressing. In group 3, Mark Joyce won aw three matches leadin Mark Davis. Ryan Day an Kyren Wilson met in the final match of group 12, wi the victor winnin the group. Day won the first twa frames, afore Wilson won frame 3. Wi the higher break, a 111, Wilson coud progress wi a 2-2 draw, houiver Day made a break of 86 tae win.

In group 4, Harvey Chandler drew his first match against Joe Perry, but won his ither twa matches tae lead the group. Liang Wenbo won group 5 wi three wins whilst Joe O'Connor finished seicont, who made the heichest break of his career, an o the event a 143 in his draw wi Mark Selby. Gary Wilson won group 14, scoring fower century breaks in ten frames. Baith Ronnie O'Sullivan an Tom Ford won groups on 5 Juin; wi O'Sullivan nae losin a single frame. Stuart Bingham an Ricky Walden baith finished group 1 wi a win an twa draws. The final match o the group atween Jamie Clarke an Jordan Brown, haed Clarke win, wi Jordan requirin a 3-0 win tae progress. Bingham won the group wi a break of 94, but Walden made a 89 break, but played a harder shot on the , attemptin tae mak a maximum break. Ben Woollaston won group 8, but spent the tournament estranged frae his wife Tatiana Woollaston, who haed been refereeing the event, but wis nae allowed tae be in contact due tae the social distancing rules.

Barry Hawkins won group 7, ahead of Anthony McGill wi twa wins an a draw. The 2010 World Snooker Championship winner Neil Robertson lost his openin match tae Ashley Carty, wi Carty winnin the group. Martin O'Donnel an Mark Allen baith won twa matches, afore thay met in the final match o the round. The match finished 2-2, wi O'Donnell winnin the group wi a better frame difference. Group 6 wis won bi Sam Craigie, who finished abuin Masters finalist Ali Carter.

## Main draw
### Group stage
The group stage consisted of 16 groups, each containing fower players. Twa groups played tae a finish each day frae 1&nbsp;tae 8&nbsp;Juin.

#### Group 1
Group 1 wis played on 6 Juin.Stuart Bingham an Ricky Walden war tied at the tap o the group; Bingham finished tap as he made the heichest break o the twa players.

#### Group 2
Group 2 wis played on 1 Juin.

#### Group 3
Group 3 wis played on 2 Juin.

#### Group 4
Group 4 wis played on 3 Juin.

#### Group 5
Group 5 wis played on 4 Juin.

#### Group 6
Group 6 wis played on 8 Juin.

#### Group 7
Group 7 wis played on 7 Juin.

#### Group 8
Group 8 wis played on 6 Juin.

#### Group 9
Group 9 wis played on 2 Juin. Luca Brecel an Jack Lisowski war tied at the tap o the group; Brecel finished tap as he made the heichest break o the twa players.

#### Group 10
Group 10 wis played on 5 Juin.

#### Group 11
Group 11 wis played on 8 Juin.

#### Group 12
Group 12 wis played on 3 Juin.

#### Group 13
Group 13 wis played on 1 Juin.

#### Group 14
Group 14 wis played on 4 Juin.

#### Group 15
Group 15 wis played on 5 Juin.

#### Group 16
Group 16 wis played on 7 Juin.

### Group winners' stage
The group winners' stage consisted of fower groups, each containing fower players. Groups C an D played tae a finish on 9&nbsp;Juin. Groups A an B played tae a finish on 10&nbsp;Juin.

#### Group A

#### Group B

#### Group C

#### Group D

### Final group
The tournament finals, consisting of ane final group of fower players, wis played on 11&nbsp;Juin.

The final match wis atween the twa players who coud win the group, an therefore the tournament. Wi Luca Brecel needing anly a draw, Ben Woollaston teuk a 2–1 lead, meanin the winner o the event wis decidit on the final frame.

**Key:P**=Matchesplayed; **W**=Matcheswon; **D**=Matchesdrawn; **L**=Matcheslost; **FW**=Frameswon; **FL**=Frameslost; **FD**=Framedifference; **HB**=Highestbreak


## Century breaks
A tot of 53 century breaks war made during the event. The heichest wis a 143 made bi Joe O'Connor in group 5. Scores in bold denote heichest break in the indicated group.

***143** (5) Joe O'Connor
***141** (FG), **134** (D), 127, 126, 101 Ben Woollaston
***138** (9), 111, 109, 106, 105 Luca Brecel
***137** (6) Matthew Selt
*136 Oliver Lines
***134** (14), **132** (A), 125, 107, 100 Gary Wilson
*131, 123 Sam Craigie
***130** (B), 114 Barry Hawkins
***130** (15) Tom Ford
*128 Martin O'Donnell
*122, 107, 105, 103 Ryan Day
***121** (3) Louis Heathcote
*120, 117, **100** (13)  David Gilbert
***119** (10) Chris Wakelin
***119** (16), 107, 106 Neil Robertson
*117, 103, 100 Liang Wenbo
*116, 112, **104** (C), 101 Ronnie O'Sullivan
*114 Ali Carter
***111** (12) Kyren Wilson
***107** (7), 106 Anthony McGill
***106** (2)  Elliot Slessor
***105** (1) Jamie Clarke
*104  Jack Lisowski
*102 Chen Feilong
***101** (4) Harvey Chandler
*101 Mark Joyce

## References

## External links
* Matchroom Sport – Championship League Snooker
* World Snooker – Calendar 2019/2020