Which players have qualified for the 2024 Champion of Champions snooker invitational?

A lucrative invitational event showcasing the winners of snooker titles from across the past 12 months, the 2024 installment is set to take place at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in Bolton between November 11-17.

Once again featuring 16 players, the 2024 edition has a total prize fund of £440,000, with the winner pocketing £150,000.

In its current format, the Champion of Champions has been played annually since 2013 with ITV in the UK being the host television broadcaster. Ronnie O'Sullivan is the most decorated winner of the title with four triumphs (2013, 2014, 2018, 2022) while Neil Robertson (2015, 2019) and Mark Allen (2020, 2023) are the other multiple-time champions.

Who is likely to play at the 2024 Champion of Champions Snooker?

At the time of writing, tournament organisers Matchroom Multi Sport have yet to officially announce the qualifying criteria - this is expected in the coming weeks - although it is very likely to follow a similar process to previous years, with the champions of professional snooker's biggest events guaranteed to receive a ticket to Bolton.

The 12-month cycle of tournament winners begins from the previous year's Champion of Champions, meaning Mark Allen booked his 2024 berth after defeating Judd Trump 10-3 in the 2023 final. Since then, though, Allen has also won the Snooker Shoot Out and Players Championship - both ranking events on the World Snooker Tour.

Record four-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan will get an invite; 'The Rocket' has recorded four title wins during the qualification process: UK Championship, Masters, World Grand Prix and the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker.

Judd Trump - Champion of Champions victor in 2021 - has also secured a quadruple of titles during the qualifying cycle: German Masters, World Open, Shanghai Masters and Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.

Reigning World Champion Kyren Wilson, and Gary Wilson are both multiple title winners since the most recent Champion of Champions edition. As well as his triumph at the Crucible, Kyren also won the inaugural Xi’an Grand Prix; Gary won both the Scottish and Welsh Opens. Mark Selby is also double-qualified (Championship League Invitational and British Open).

The other WST title winners within the 12-month period are Mark Williams (Tour Championship), Ali Carter (Championship League Ranking) and Neil Robertson (English Open), all of whom will surely no doubt receive invites.

In previous years, the World Snooker Championship runner-up has also been invited. If this is the case again, Jak Jones could make his Champion of Champions debut in November.

If all the players above are invited and accept, that fills ten slots, with six remaining.

Following Robertson’s success at the English Open in Brentwood, there are only three more events on the World Snooker Tour until the 2024 Champion of Champions: Wuhan Open, Northern Ireland Open and International Championship.

With six spots still vacant and only three WST events left until the 2024 Champion of Champions, it is likely that winners from other events could receive an invite as has been the case in recent times.

World Women’s Snooker Champion Bai Yulu from China and World Seniors Snooker Champion Igor Figueiredo are likely to be next in line if this is the case.

Should there be more places available due to players qualifying multiple times, it is possible that the World Mixed Doubles champions Luca Brecel and Reanne Evans could get in - perhaps even before Bai and Figueiredo as the World Mixed Doubles was a WST event. However, we await confirmation from Matchroom about this.

When the first World Mixed Doubles was played in September 2022, it didn’t seem to appear in Matchroom’s qualifying criteria, although the winners - Neil Robertson and Mink Nutcharut - both qualified via another route.

In previous years, if the organisers 'run out' of title holders, they fill the vacant slots from the world rankings, inviting the highest placed players who haven’t already qualified.

What is the prize money for the 2024 Champion of Champions Snooker?

There is a £440,000 prize fund for the 2024 Champion of Champions snooker invitational. The breakdown of prizes is below:

• Winner: £150,000
• Runner-up: £60,000
• Semi-finalist: £30,000 (each)
• Group runner-up (last eight): £17,500 (each)
• Group semi-finalist (last 16): £12,500 (each)

Information in this article above is following the 2024 British Open in September 2024.