Judd Trump and Mark Selby set to extend 100% Champion of Champions appearance records

Taking place at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in Bolton between November 11-17, the 2024 Champion of Champions will be the 12th annual edition of the event since its introduction to the World Snooker Tour - in its current guise - since 2013.

With the 2024 line-up now complete, only two players are set to maintain and extend their 100% appearance record in the competition - Judd Trump and Mark Selby.

Trump has one of the best records in Champion of Champions history having reached the final on five occasions.

‘The Ace in the Pack’ finally got his hands on the trophy in 2021 following a scintillating performance throughout the week which saw him drop only five frames during the entire event.

After losing the opening frame to David Lilley in the round one, Trump won the next four frames for a 4-1 win before recording back-to-back 6-0 whitewashes against Ryan Day and Kyren Wilson in the quarter and semi-finals respectively. That meant Trump had fashioned an incredible 16-frame winning sequence.

In the final, that streak was stopped by John Higgins who went 3-0 up, although Trump replied by taking 10 of the next 11 frames for a 10-4 win.

Trump has been runner-up four times. In 2014 he lost 10-7 to Ronnie O’Sullivan, and in 2019 he was pipped 10-9 by Neil Robertson in one of the greatest snooker finals of all time.

The current world number one has been the defeated finalist in the last two finals - 10-6 to O’Sullivan in 2022 and 10-3 to Mark Allen in 2023. That means Trump has made the final in each of the last three years, and four times in the last five. In 2020 he was a semi-finalist.

Only twice has Trump exited in round one; 2015 to Kyren Wilson 4-2 and 2017 to Luca Brecel 4-0.

Despite being an ever-present at the Champion of Champions, the tournament hasn’t been one of Selby’s favourites.

Considering his glittering career CV bursting with titles, Selby has yet to make a Champion of Champions final in his 11 attempts, although he has made it to the semi-finals three times, including during the inaugural staging in 2013 when he was denied by Stuart Bingham, 6-4.

In 2020 Selby made it to the last four again but was shaded by Robertson, 6-5, in a classic contest where both cueists notched up three century breaks each. Two years later, getting to the final was a step too far again as Trump stopped him 6-3.

Only three times Selby has been dismissed in the first round.

As well as their perfect attendance records, Trump and Selby are also the only players to have made a maximum 147 break in the Champion of Champions, and they both came in ultimately losing endeavours.

Selby struck perfection during a 4-3 defeat to Robertson in the 2018 opening round and Trump did likewise during his final loss to O’Sullivan in 2022.

John Higgins has played in all the previous Champion of Champions events on ITV Sport, but his unbroken streak will stop in 2024 as he did not win an event over the past 12 months and was too low in the world rankings to receive a ‘top-up’ place.

Record four-time Champion of Champions winner Ronnie O’Sullivan has qualified for every edition of the prestigious invitational since its maiden outing in 2013, although he didn’t enter in 2015 and withdrew from the 2023 staging - both times he was the defending champion.