Championship League Snooker 2009: All you need to know

EDIT: To view the relevant page for the 2010 Championship League, please click here.

So it’s a new year and we don’t have to wait long for competitive snooker action in 2009 as the second season of Matchroom Sport’s Championship League begins on Monday with Joe Perry looking to defend his title and qualify again for the Premier League…

Yes that’s right, after a highly successful first season, snooker returns to Crondon Park Golf Club and the field is better than ever as some of snooker’s finest ever players join the party this time around. The details are as follows:

When?

The first two groups will be played at the start of next week with Group 1 on Monday-Tuesday and Group 2 between Wednesday and Thursday.

The dates in full are as follows:

Group 1 – Monday, January 5 and Tuesday, January 6 – WON BY MARK SELBY
Group 2 – Wednesday, January 7 and Thursday, January 8 – WON BY MARK ALLEN
Group 3 – Monday, February 9 and Tuesday, February 10 – WON BY JOE PERRY
Group 4 – Wednesday, February 11 and Thursday, February 12 – WON BY STUART BINGHAM
Group 5 – Monday, March 2 and Tuesday, March 3 – WON BY MARK KING
Group 6 – Wednesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 5 –  WON BY JOHN HIGGINS
Group 7 – Monday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 24 – WON BY JUDD TRUMP
Winners’ Group – Wednesday, March 25 and Thursday, March 26

Who?

Having already seen the likes of Mark Selby and Mark Allen go through to the winner’s group, while Ding Junhui, Stephen Hendry, Ali Carter and Peter Ebdon have crashed out, almost all of the additional players to join the later groups have now been confirmed.

Joining for Group Four will be Dave Harold, Stuart Bingham and Jamie Cope.

Joining for Group Five will be Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty and Mark King.

Joining for Group Six will be Steve Davis, Graeme Dott and Joe Swail.

Joining for Group Seven will be Ricky Walden, Judd Trump and Liang Wenbo.

Format

As stated on the Matchroom Sport website:

“All matches in the league phase are played over four frames. The play-offs and final are the first to 3.

The Championship League Snooker consists of eight groups. Seven regular groups and then a winners’ group fetaures the seven previous successful players.

In groups one to six, the winner of the final will advance to the winners’ group. The loser in the final, the two losing semi-finalist and the player finishing fifth in the league will advance into the next group. They will then be joined by three new players for the next group.”

Winners’ Group Fixtures (again from Matchroom Sport):

Championship League Snooker – Winners’ Group Fixtures

Wednesday, March 25
Table One (all times are approximate)

11am: Mark Selby 3-1 Mark Allen.
12.15pm: Mark King v John Higgins.
Not before 2pm: Mark Allen v Joe Perry.
3.15pm: John Higgins v Judd Trump.
Not before 6pm: Mark Allen v Stuart Bingham.
7.15pm: Joe Perry v Judd Trump.

Table Two
11am: Joe Perry v Stuart Bingham.
12.15pm: Judd Trump v Mark Selby.
Not before 2pm: Stuart Bingham v Mark King.
3.15pm: Mark Selby v Joe Perry.
Not before 6pm: Mark King v Judd Trump.
7.15pm: John Higgins v Stuart Bingham.

Thursday, March 26
Table One

11am: Mark Selby v John Higgins.
12.15pm: Stuart Bingham v Judd Trump.
Not before 2pm: Mark Selby v Mark King.
4.30pm: Mark Allen v John Higgins.
Not before 6.30pm: Play-off – first v fourth.
7.45pm: Final.

Table Two
11am: Mark Allen v Mark King.
12.15pm: Joe Perry v John Higgins.
Not before 2pm: Mark Allen v Judd Trump.
3.15pm: Joe Perry v Mark King.
4.30pm: Mark Selby v Stuart Bingham.
Not before 6.30pm: Play-off – second v third.

How to watch

While spectators will not be able to watch the event at the venue, as last year the action will be televised live by several online betting sites. These are:

Results

Result and information can be found here at Matchroom Sport.