From Wikipedia - Reading time: 21 min
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 January – 5 February 2025 |
| Venue | Leicester Arena |
| City | Leicester |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | Matchroom Sport |
| Format | Non-ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £205,000 |
| Winner's share | £10,000 (plus bonuses) |
| Highest break |
|
| Final | |
| Champion | |
| Runner-up | |
| Score | 3–0 |
The 2025 Championship League Invitational (officially the 2025 BetVictor Championship League Invitational for sponsorship reasons) was a professional non‑ranking snooker tournament, which took place from 3 January 2025 to 5 February 2025 at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England.[5]
Mark Selby was the defending champion, having won the tournament for the first time after beating Joe O'Connor 3–1 in the final of the 2024 event.[6] Selby successfully defended the title, defeating Kyren Wilson 3–0 in the final.[7][8] There were 177 century breaks made during the tournament, a record for any professional event,[9] of which Jak Jones compiled 32, breaking the record for most centuries in a single tournament previously held jointly by Kyren Wilson and Matthew Selt. Three maximum breaks were made during the event, compiled by Jak Jones in Group 2, David Gilbert in Group 7 and Mark Selby in the Winners' Group; only the fourth time that three maximums had been made in a tournament, after the 2012 UK Championship, the 2017 German Masters, and the previous Championship League invitational event.
A total of 25 players were initially invited to the event, with the matches played behind closed doors without an audience. Players earned prize money for every frame won, as well as being semi‑finalists, runner‑up, and winner of each group, with more money involved in the Winners' Group. Since 2010, all matches have been played as the best of five frames.[10][11][12]
The tournament was played in a round‑robin format, consisting of eight groups of seven players. The top four players in each group qualified for a play‑off, with the winner entering the Winners' Group. The bottom two players in each group were eliminated, and the remaining four moved to the next group, where they were joined by three more players. This format was played for each group, from one to seven. In each group, the players were ranked by the number of matches won, then by most frames won, and then by least frames lost. If two players were tied by these criteria, the player who won the match between them was ranked higher in the table. The group play‑off semi‑finals were contested between the 1st and 4th place players in the table, and between the 2nd and 3rd place players in the table. The Winners' Group was played at the end, and its play‑off winner became champion of the tournament.[13]
Group 1 was played on 3 and 4 January; and Groups 2, 3, and 4 were played from 6 to 11 January. Groups 5, 6, and 7 were played from 20 to 25 January; and the Winners' Group was played on 4 and 5 February. The champion takes a place in the 2025 Champion of Champions.[22][31][40]
The event was broadcast by Rigour Media in China; Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Iceland; and by Matchroom.live in all other territories. Additionally, table one was streamed live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel available in the United Kingdom, with table two being available worldwide on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.[10][11]
The breakdown of prize money for the 2025 Championship League is as follows:[13][41]
Group 1 was played on 3 and 4 January 2025.[32][23] At the end of the first day, Hossein Vafaei led the group.[42] Vafaei won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.[43][44] There were 19 century breaks made in Group 1, the highest of which was a 135 made by Jak Jones.[45]
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 9 | +5 | Qualification to Group 1 play-off | |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 10 | +4 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | +1 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 14 | −3 | Advanced into Group 2 | |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | −5 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 | −6 |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
Group 2 was played on 6 and 7 January 2025.[33][24] At the end of the first day, Chris Wakelin led the group.[46] Si Jiahui won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.[47][48] There were 15 century breaks made in Group 2, the highest of which was a maximum break made by Jak Jones, the first 147 of his professional career in a league match whitewash victory over Chris Wakelin.[49][47]
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 9 | +7 | Qualification to Group 2 play-off | |
| 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 13 | +2 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | +3 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 13 | −2 | Advanced into Group 3 | |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −4 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 7 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 15 | −8 |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
Group 3 was played on 8 and 9 January 2025.[34][25] At the end of the first day, Mark Selby led the group.[50] Kyren Wilson won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.[51][52] There were 20 century breaks made in Group 3, the highest of which was a 140 made by Selby.[53]
Results not counted after O'Sullivan's withdrawal:
Result not counted after O'Sullivan's withdrawal:
Match not played:
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 3 | +12 | Qualification to Group 3 play-off | |
| 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | ||
| 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 13 | −6 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −4 | Advanced into Group 4 | |
| 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | −7 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew after playing five matches |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
Group 4 was played on 10 and 11 January 2025.[35][26] At the end of the first day, Joe O'Connor led the group with four wins in four matches,[54] and Stuart Bingham made his 600th career century.[17] Mark Selby won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.[55][56] There were 26 century breaks made in Group 4, the highest of which was a 143 made by Bingham.[57]
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 7 | +8 | Qualification to Group 4 play-off | |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 11 | +3 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 12 | +2 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | +3 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | Advanced into Group 5 | |
| 6 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 | −6 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 17 | −10 |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 0 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
Group 5 was played on 20 and 21 January 2025.[36][27] At the end of the first day, Judd Trump led the group with four wins in four matches.[58] Matthew Selt won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.[59][60] There were 33 century breaks made in Group 5, the highest of which was a 138 made by Joe O'Connor.[61] Jak Jones surpassed Selt's record of 23 for the most century breaks in a professional tournament (made at the 2023 tournament); at the conclusion of Group 5 Jones had made 26 in this event.[60]
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 8 | +9 | Qualification to Group 5 play-off | |
| 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 14 | −1 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 14 | −1 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −4 | Advanced into Group 6 | |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | −5 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 7 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 15 | −8 |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 0 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
Group 6 was played on 22 and 23 January 2025.[37][28] At the end of the first day, Joe O'Connor led the group with four wins in four matches.[62] O'Connor missed the final black of an attempted maximum break in his match against Tom Ford.[62] Jack Lisowski also missed the final black of an attempted maximum break in his match against Jak Jones.[63] Judd Trump won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.[63][64] There were 24 century breaks made in Group 6, the highest of which was a 143 made by Noppon Saengkham.[65]
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | +16 | Qualification to Group 6 play-off | |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 11 | +3 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 14 | −5 | Advanced into Group 7 | |
| 6 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 16 | −9 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 15 | −9 |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 0 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
Group 7 was played on 24 and 25 January 2025.[38][29] At the end of the first day, Xiao Guodong and Ricky Walden led the group with three wins each.[66] Xiao won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.[67][68] There were 16 century breaks made in Group 7, the highest of which was a maximum break made by David Gilbert, the third 147 of his career, in his 3–1 league match win over Zhou Yuelong.[69][70]
Result not counted after Jones's withdrawal:
Matches not played:
Matches not played:
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 7 | +8 | Qualification to Group 7 play-off | |
| 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | ||
| 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 6 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 15 | −10 | ||
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew after playing one match |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 2 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 0 | |||||
The Winners' Group was played on 4 and 5 February 2025.[39][30] At the end of the first day, Judd Trump led the group with four wins in four matches.[71] Mark Selby won the group and the tournament, beating Kyren Wilson 3–0 in the final.[7] There were 24 century breaks made in the Winners' Group, the highest of which was a maximum break made by Selby, the sixth 147 of his career, in his 3–2 league match win over Xiao Guodong.[8][72] After the final match, which took only 52 minutes, Selby said: "This event is difficult to win, I'd have been happy to win it once but twice is even better! I played a lot better today compared to yesterday. I scored well when I got my chances and it's nice to beat somebody like Kyren [Wilson]. He's the man of the moment and you get confidence from it."[8]
| Pos | Player | Pld | W | L | FF | FA | FD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 9 | +9 | Qualification to Winners' Group play-off | |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 11 | +5 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 9 | +3 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | −2 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | Eliminated from the competition | |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 15 | −7 | ||
| 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 17 | −8 |
| Semi-finals Best of 5 frames | Final Best of 5 frames | |||||
| | 0 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 0 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 3 | |||||
| | 1 | |||||
| Final: Best of 5 frames. Referee: Natalia Gradinari Leicester Arena, Leicester, England, 5 February 2025. | ||
| Kyren Wilson |
0–3 | Mark Selby |
| Frame scores: 11–103, 1–62, 0–100 (100) | ||
| (frame 1) 6 | Highest break | 100 (frame 3) |
| 0 | Century breaks | 1 |
A total of 177[a][b] century breaks were made during the tournament.[73]
Note: Bold = highest break in the indicated group.
| No. | Player[13][c] | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | W | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3,600 | 6,200 | 16,000 | 25,800 | ||||||
| 2 | 5,000 | 5,400 | 4,400 | 4,300 | 2,900 | 900 | 0 | 22,900 | ||
| 3 | 4,600 | 6,200 | 6,600 | 17,400 | ||||||
| 4 | 6,400 | 7,900 | 14,300 | |||||||
| 5 | 6,200 | 5,700 | 11,900 | |||||||
| 6 | 2,700 | 3,400 | 4,700 | 500 | 11,300 | |||||
| 7 | 1,300 | 6,100 | 1,600 | 9,000 | ||||||
| 8 | 6,100 | 2,400 | 8,500 | |||||||
| 9 | 6,400 | 1,800 | 8,200 | |||||||
| 10 | 2,600 | 5,000 | 7,600 | |||||||
| 11 | 2,800 | 2,500 | 5,300 | |||||||
| = | 3,300 | 2,000 | 5,300 | |||||||
| 13 | 1,100 | 2,800 | 1,100 | 5,000 | ||||||
| 14 | 3,600 | 1,000 | 4,600 | |||||||
| 15 | 2,600 | 1,000 | 3,600 | |||||||
| 16 | 2,700 | 700 | 3,400 | |||||||
| = | 3,400 | 3,400 | ||||||||
| 18 | 1,100 | 1,000 | 2,100 | |||||||
| 19 | 1,000 | 600 | 1,600 | |||||||
| 20 | 1,000 | 1,000 | ||||||||
| = | 1,000 | 1,000 | ||||||||
| = | 1,000 | 1,000 | ||||||||
| = | 1,000 | 1,000 | ||||||||
| 24 | 900 | 900 | ||||||||
| 25 | 700 | 700 | ||||||||
| = | 700 | 700 | ||||||||
| = | 700 | 700 | ||||||||
| Total prize money: | 19,600 | 20,200 | 20,000 | 19,800 | 19,700 | 19,000 | 17,900 | 42,000 | 178,200 |
| Green: Won the Group. |
| Bold: Highest break in the Group. |
| Numbers in parentheses: World ranking prior to tournament start, 3 January 2025. |
| All prize money in GBP.[d] Players receive prize money for frames won in voided matches even though they do not count in the group tables. |