On November 18th, Beijing time, the Snooker Champions of Champions concluded, with Chinese player Xiao Guodong finishing as the runner-up with a score of 6:10 against Mark Williams.
The Champions of Champions is the 10th event of the season, a top-level invitational tournament second only to the Wembley Masters in terms of prestige. Players who have won championships during the season are invited to participate, and runners-up at the World Championships also receive an entry ticket. The champion's prize money for this event is £150,000, the runner-up receives £60,000, and each participating player gets £12,500. The total prize money is £440,000, and the winnings do not count towards the world rankings. Last season, Mark Allen defeated Trump 10-3 to win the championship, and he competed this year as the defending champion.
Sixteen players were invited to participate in the Champions of Champions, including all the "80 Tigers" and only Higgins missing from the "75 Trio." This competition saw three Chinese players participate: Bai Yulu, the women's world champion; Xiao Guodong, the Wuhan Open champion; and Ding Junhui, the International Championship winner. Since the end of last season's Champions of Champions, only 13 champions have emerged from various major events. Shaun Murphy and Brecel were invited based on their ranking advantages, while Jack Jones received an entry ticket due to his runner-up finish at the World Championships. The 16 players are: O'Sullivan, Trump, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui, Xiao Guodong, Bai Yulu, Ali Carter, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Gary Wilson, Neil Robertson, Brecel, Mark Williams, Jack Jones, and Igor Figueredo, the veteran world champion.
According to the competition rules, the 16 players are divided into four groups, with one player from each group advancing to the top four. The first round uses a best-of-seven format, the quarterfinals and semifinals use a best-of-eleven format, and the final uses a best-of-nineteen format. Let's take a look at the groupings for the four groups.
Group One:
Mark Allen vs Igor Figueredo
Gary Wilson vs Jack Jones
Group Three:
Mark Williams vs Bai Yulu
Kyren Wilson vs Luca Brecel
Group Two:
Judd Trump vs Ding Junhui
Ali Carter vs Neil Robertson
Group Four:
Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Xiao Guodong
Mark Selby vs Shaun Murphy
Event Review:
In the first round, Mark Allen from Group One defeated the veteran world champion 4:2 to advance to the top eight, and Jack Jones also advanced by eliminating Gary Wilson 4:2. In the quarterfinals, Mark Allen made four breaks over 60 and one century break, defeating Jack Jones 6:3 to advance to the semifinals where he will face the winner of Group Four. In Group Two, Chinese player Ding Junhui suffered a 0:4 defeat to Trump in the first round, while Neil Robertson narrowly defeated Ali Carter 4:3. In the subsequent quarterfinal match, Neil Robertson made five breaks over 50 and defeated Trump 6:4 to advance to the semifinals to compete for a spot in the final against the winner of Group Three.
In Group Three, Mark Williams and Kyren Wilson both won 4:1, while Bai Yulu and Brecel were eliminated in the first round. Mark Williams and Kyren Wilson fought for a spot in the top four in the quarterfinals, with Mark Williams eventually winning 6:5 over Kyren Wilson to reach the semifinals and face Neil Robertson. In the first round of Group Four, Chinese player Xiao Guodong started with a 0:3 deficit but then staged a comeback by making breaks of 130, 88, and 85 to win three consecutive frames and ultimately clinch victory in the decider. Mark Selby, on the other hand, made two breaks over 70 and a century break to eliminate Shaun Murphy 4:2. In the quarterfinals, Xiao Guodong once again staged a comeback against Mark Selby, starting with a 1:4 deficit but ultimately winning 6:5 to advance to the top four.
Following that, the semifinals saw the winner of Group One, Mark Allen, face off against Xiao Guodong from Group Four. Historically, Xiao Guodong has won fewer matches against Mark Allen, but after continuously staging comebacks, Xiao Guodong's confidence soared, and he defeated Mark Allen 6:3 with three breaks over 50 to advance to the final. This is also Xiao Guodong's second time reaching the final this season since the Wuhan Open. In the other semifinal match, Mark Williams defeated Neil Robertson 6:2 to secure a spot in the final and compete against Xiao Guodong for the championship. Below are the details of the final match between Xiao Guodong and Mark Williams:
Xiao Guodong 6-10 Mark Williams
Xiao Guodong, born in 1989, is a veteran Chinese snooker player who turned professional in 2007. Prior to the start of this season, he finished as the runner-up at the 2013 Shanghai Masters and the 2017 Shoot-Out. This season, he suddenly broke out, overcoming all obstacles to win his first career title at the Wuhan Open. Along the way, he defeated renowned players such as world champion Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson, and ranking event champion Barry Hawkins. He reached the semifinals of the International Championship and refreshed his career ranking to 16th. This is also his first time participating in the Champions of Champions and reaching the final, which is truly remarkable. We hope he can continue to innovate.
Mark Williams, known as the "Golden Left Hand," is one of the most accurate single-ball players in the world and is currently ranked 6th in the world. This season, he reached the final of the Saudi Masters but lost 9:10 to Trump, finishing as the runner-up. He has 26 ranking event titles in his career and achieved the grand slam in a single season. This is the first time he has reached the final of the Champions of Champions in his career, and he holds a 4-1 advantage in his previous five encounters with Xiao Guodong.
In the first stage of the match, Xiao Guodong was relatively slow to heat up, making repeated mistakes in both attack and defense and being suppressed at times. Mark Williams made breaks of 65 and 91 to win five consecutive frames for a dream start. It was originally thought that Xiao Guodong's mentality would be affected and he would suffer a crushing defeat, but the continuous comebacks on his way to the final did not let him give up. In the sixth frame, Mark Williams made a break of 51 but failed to secure victory. Xiao Guodong played steadily with a break of 55 and won the frame 68-55. He then played better and better, making century breaks of 101 and 110 to win four frames in a row and end the first stage with a score of 4:5.
In the second stage, Mark Williams quickly entered the state with a century break of 104 in the tenth frame. In the eleventh frame, Mark Williams capitalized on his momentum with two visits and a break of 62 to win another frame 71-34. In the twelfth frame, Xiao Guodong adjusted in time, playing cautiously and seizing the opportunity to win with a break of 68 to reduce the deficit to 5-7. In the thirteenth frame, Mark Williams took the lead with 45 points before interrupting his play. Xiao Guodong failed to seize the opportunity, scoring only 12 points before making a significant mistake. Mark Williams came back to the table and won with a break of 80, leaving Xiao Guodong trailing 5-8 going into the interval.
After a short break, in the fourteenth frame, Mark Williams made more mistakes, and Xiao Guodong managed to win the frame 75-37 to reduce the deficit to 6-8. In the fifteenth frame, Mark Williams took advantage of Xiao Guodong's mistakes to make a break of 95 and win the frame to secure a match point. In the sixteenth frame, Mark Williams showed great momentum, potting a long-range ball to get 10 points before switching to defense. Xiao Guodong made consecutive mistakes in the defensive process, and Mark Williams seized the opportunity with a break of 67 to win the frame 78-1 and the match. Thus, Xiao Guodong lost 6-10 to Mark Williams and finished as the runner-up. Congratulations to the "Golden Left Hand" Mark Williams for being crowned the champion of the 2024/2025 season's Champions of Champions, becoming the new champion of the event!