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2020 Championship League (March)

Tournament information
Dates	7 October 2019 – 5 March 2020
Venue	Morningside Arena
City	Leicester
Country	England
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£182,400
Winner's share	£10,000 (plus bonuses)
Highest break	Judd Trump (ENG) (145)
Final
Champion	Scott Donaldson (SCO)
Runner-up	Graeme Dott (SCO)
Score	3–0
← 2019 2020 (June) →

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.

Matches

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
3	Mark Selby (ENG)	6	3	3	12	12	0
4	Ryan Day (WAL)	6	2	4	13	14	−1
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

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Barry Hawkins (ENG)	0
	Ryan Day (WAL)	3
					Ryan Day (WAL)	2
					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.

Matches

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
3	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	6	4	2	13	13	0
4	Mark Selby (ENG)	6	3	3	15	9	+6
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

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	1
	Mark Selby (ENG)	3
					Mark Selby (ENG)	1
					Stuart Bingham (ENG)	3
	Gary Wilson (ENG)	0
	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
3	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	6	3	3	14	14	0
4	Matthew Selt (ENG)	6	3	3	12	14	−2
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

Play-offs

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

Matches

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
3	Graeme Dott (SCO)	6	4	2	15	13	+2
4	Joe Perry (ENG)	6	2	4	12	14	−2
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

Play-offs

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

Matches

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
3	Anthony McGill (SCO)	6	3	3	11	12	−1
4	David Gilbert (ENG)	6	3	3	11	13	−2
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

Play-offs

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

Matches

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
3	John Higgins (SCO)	6	4	2	14	13	+1
4	Graeme Dott (SCO)	6	3	3	14	12	+2
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

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	David Gilbert (ENG)	2
	Graeme Dott (SCO)	3
					Graeme Dott (SCO)	2
					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.

Matches

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
3	David Gilbert (ENG)	6	4	2	13	11	+2
4	Mark Williams (WAL)	6	3	3	11	11	0
5	Lyu Haotian (CHN)	6	2	4	9	14	−5	Eliminated from the competition
6	Ricky Walden (ENG)	6	2	4	8	13	−5
7	Robert Milkins (ENG)	6	1	5	7	16	−9

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	John Higgins (SCO)	1
	Mark Williams (WAL)	3
					Mark Williams (WAL)	1
					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.

Matches

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
3	Anthony McGill (SCO)	6	3	3	14	13	+1
4	Scott Donaldson (SCO)	6	3	3	12	12	0
5	Neil Robertson (AUS)	6	3	3	11	13	−2	Eliminated from the competition
6	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	6	2	4	8	13	−5
7	Gary Wilson (ENG)	6	0	6	6	18	−12

Play-offs

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

References

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External links

• Matchroom Sport – Championship League Snooker
• World Snooker – Calendar 2019/2020 Archived 20 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine

• Championship League
• 2019 in snooker
• 2019 in English sport
• 2020 in snooker
• 2020 in English sport
• October 2019 sports events in the United Kingdom
• January 2020 sports events in the United Kingdom
• March 2020 sports events in the United Kingdom
• Sport in Leicester