Betway UK Snooker Championship Draw: World Champion Bingham will face amateur Jordan Brown

World Champion Stuart Bingham will face amateur Jordan Brown in the first round at the Betway UK Championship at the York Barbican later this month.

The draw for the prestigious world ranking event, one of snooker’s Triple Crown tournaments, has been made, with all 128 players starting in round one. The BBC-televised tournament runs from November 24 to December 6.

Bingham won the World title for the first time last May and he’ll be the number one seed in York. His opening match will be on Thursday November 26 at 2.30pm, against Northern Ireland’s Brown.

In the same session, world number one Mark Selby will be up against fellow Leicester cueman Joe O’Connor.

Local favourite Ashley Hugill, a 21-year-old amateur from York, will make his debut in the tournament when he takes on former World Champion Shaun Murphy on Wednesday November 25 at 2.30pm.

Judd Trump, the 2011 UK Champion, meets Hammad Miah while legend Jimmy White will face Stephen Maguire. John Higgins’ first opponent is Leo Fernandez while China’s top player Ding Junhui will meet Sheffield’s Adam Duffy.

Stuart Bingham

For the full draw and format see http://www.worldsnooker.com

All matches are best of 11 frames, up until the final which is best of 19.

Tickets for the final session on December 6 have already sold out, and other sessions are selling fast so fans are urged to BOOK SEATS NOW. Tickets start at just £6, visit http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets

188BET TO SPONSOR CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SNOOKER

188bet and Matchroom Sport are excited to announce that 188bet is the title sponsor of the 2015 Champion of Champions snooker tournament. Taking place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry from Tuesday to Sunday 10-15 November, the 188bet Champion of Champions will be broadcast live throughout on ITV4 in the UK.

The 188bet Champion of Champions features World Snooker tournament winners from the previous 12 months, including World Champion Stuart Bingham, Masters Champion Shaun Murphy as well as the likes of Grand Prix champion Judd Trump, German Masters victor Mark Selby and Welsh Open winner John Higgins.

The tournament begins with four groups, each featuring a semi-final and final on the same day with the group winners progressing to the tournament semi-finals on Saturday 14 November. Sunday’s final will be played over 19 frames with the winner taking home £100,000.

In addition to live coverage throughout in the UK, the 188bet Champion of Champions will also be aired on CCTV in China, Sky New Zealand, OSN throughout the Middle East, Nova in Czech and Slovakia and Setanta (Ireland).

Barry Hearn, Chairman of Matchroom Sport, said: “We are delighted to be working with 188bet for the first time on what is one of the biggest events on the snooker calendar. The 188bet Champion of Champions is a blue riband event and the millions of fans watching both in person at the Ricoh Arena across the world on live TV will be in for a treat of world class snooker from the first ball till the last.”

188BET’s Managing Director, Nigel Singer said: “I’m very pleased to announce 188BET’s partnership with Matchroom Sport. The Champion of Champions snooker tournament is one of the biggest events on the snooker calendar. Through our partnership, the 188BET Champions of Champions tournament will reach millions of snooker fans with live television coverage on multiple channels.”

For more information about 188BET go to http://www.188BET.com

Higgins To Be Seeded At Champion of Champions

With the penultimate qualifying event – the International Championship – concluding this weekend in China, Matchroom Sport can announce that the final seeded player for the Champion of Champion will be Scotland’s John Higgins.

The current World No. 12 is the highest ranked player already qualified and will take his place in Group One alongside Joe Perry. Currently Ding Junhui is the 16th and final player in the Champion of Champions but that could all change if Thepchaiya Un-Nooh or David Gilbert were to win the International. Failing that eventuality, a new winner at next week’s Bulgarian Open could sneak in ahead of Ding.

The 2015 Champion of Champions takes place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry from 10th to 15th November and features previous winners of World Snooker-sanctioned events over the previous 12 months.

The eight seeded players are Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump, John Higgins, Joe Perry, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins. The unseeded players are Michael White, Stephen Maguire, Kyren Wilson, Zhou Yuelong, Yan Bingtao, Ali Carter and Rory McLeod. They will be joined by Ding Junhui provided there is not a new winner at the International or Bulgarian Open.

Each seeded player will play an unseeded opponent in a best-of-seven group match in the afternoon session with the two winners clashing over 11 frames in the evening. The four group winners will proceed to the best-of-11 semi-finals on Saturday, November 14 before Sunday, November 15 sees a two-session final played over 19 frames.

Ali Carter

Group Fixtures

Tuesday November 10, Group 3 (first match at 1pm)
Stuart Bingham (3) v To Be Drawn
Judd Trump (6) v To Be Drawn

Wednesday, November 11, Group 1 (first match at 1pm)
John Higgins v To Be Drawn
Joe Perry (8) v To Be Drawn

Thursday, November 12, Group 4 (first match at 1pm)
Neil Robertson (4) v To Be Drawn
Shaun Murphy (5) v To Be Drawn

Friday, November 13, Group 2 (first match at 1pm)
Mark Selby (2) v To Be Drawn
Barry Hawkins (7) v To Be Drawn

Tickets for this year’s Champion of Champions are now on sale at The Ticket Factory from just £10. Standard priced tickets for the weekend sessions are now sold out, but in anticipation of extra seats being released a waiting list has been set up at http://www.championofchampionssnooker.co.uk/tickets/.

The participation of all players is subject to contract.

UK Snooker Final Session Sold Out

The final session of snooker’s Betway UK Championship has sold out, with fans snapping up tickets for the showpiece tournament at the York Barbican.

It’s one of the sport’s Triple Crown events and always draws capacity crowds to the Yorkshire city to see the world’s best green baize stars competing for the famous trophy.

Ronnie O’Sullivan won last year’s thrilling final by beating Judd Trump 10-9 to capture the £150,000 top prize, and once again this year it will be a stellar line up for the BBC-televised event.

The tournament runs from November 24 to December 6 with 128 players contesting the title, and a flat draw which means that the top potters will face up-and-coming cuemen in the opening round.

The concluding session of the final on Sunday December 6 has already SOLD OUT and tickets for all other sessions are selling fast, so fans are strongly urged to get their seats booked.

Judd Trump

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “Year after year we see snooker fans from York and beyond flocking to this fantastic event to see the best players on the planet. So I’m delighted to see that trend continuing this time.

“The atmosphere inside the Barbican is electric and this year is going to be something special with so many outstanding players in form. Get your seats booked now or miss out on a wonderful fortnight of live sport at its best!”

Tickets start from just £6, visit http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets

The draw and format will be available after the seeding cut-off point on November 1st.

Llandudno To Stage Snooker’s World Grand Prix

The best snooker players on the planet will be back in Llandudno next March for the World Grand Prix.

The tournament was new to the calendar last season and received a fantastic reception in North Wales. It proved a great success as fans flocked to Venue Cymru to see an array of green baize stars including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, John Higgins and Mark Selby.

This season’s World Grand Prix runs from March 8 to 13 at the same venue in the beautiful coastal town of Llandudno. Tickets are on sale now and they are already selling fast. All supporters are strongly urged to book fast and make sure of their seats, as many sessions will sell out rapidly.

And for a limited time only there is a HALF PRICE OFFER for standard tickets for the first three days of the tournament, from Tuesday March 8 to Thursday March 10. That means you can buy a ticket to see top class sporting action from just £5…amazing value! For details call 01492 872000 or visit http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets

Judd Trump

The 2016 World Grand Prix will be a ranking event for the first time, with money earned to count towards the world ranking list. The field for the ITV4-televised event will comprise 32 players, chasing the trophy and a top prize of £100,000.

A unique ranking list will run from the 2015 Australian Goldfields Open until the 2016 Gdynia Open, with the top 32 players on that list to be eligible to enter the World Grand Prix.

Young potting sensation Judd Trump won the title last season, coming from 7-4 down in a superb final to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-7. “The World Grand Prix is a fantastic addition to the calendar,” said the player nicknamed The Ace. “I’m pleased to see it become a ranking event because that means there is more at stake and it will help the tournament grow.

“The crowds in Llandudno were brilliant last time and I thrive on that type of atmosphere. It was a great result for me to beat Ronnie in the final and hopefully I’ll be back defending my title next March, with a lot of support.”