RONNIE O’SULLIVAN will defend his Champion of Champions title in Bolton next week.
‘The Rocket’ heads an all-star line-up which includes 10 of world’s top 16 snooker players.
The tournament, which runs from Monday 13th to Sunday 19th November at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, carries a prize pot of £440,000.
O’Sullivan is joined by the likes of World Champion Luca Brecel, UK Champion Mark Allen and in-form Masters and recent Northern Ireland Open champion Judd Trump.
The tournament begins with a quartet of four-man groups played over four days, with group winners progressing to the semi-finals. The final showdown will be the best of 19 frames.
Trump heads to Bolton as the form-player of the World Snooker Tour, after victory in Belfast over Chris Wakelin sealed a third-successive Ranking Event title in October, following successes in the English Open and Wuhan Open.
Jimmy White returns to the Champion of Champions after three years following a record-extending fourth World Seniors Championship title victory over Alfie Burden back in May.
Women’s World Champion Baipat Siripaporn makes her Champion of Champions debut, having defeated China’s Bai Yulu in her home of Bangkok, Thailand to earn a spot at one of Snooker’s premier invitational events.
O’Sullivan sealed his fourth Champion of Champions title last year with a 10-6 victory over then reigning champion Trump.
Tickets for this prestigious event can be bought via this link: CLICK HERE
FULL LIST OF PLAYERS:
Ronnie O’Sullivan (England) – Champion of Champions, Shanghai Masters
Mark Allen (Northern Ireland) – UK Championship, World Grand Prix
Judd Trump (England) – The Masters, Wuhan Open, English Open 2023, Northern Ireland Open
Luca Brecel (Belgium) – World Championship
Ali Carter (England) – German Masters
Shaun Murphy (England) – Players Championship, Tour Championship, Championship League Snooker Ranking
John Higgins (Scotland) – Championship League Snooker Invitational
Mark Selby (England) – WST Classic, English Open 2022, World Championship Runner-Up
Barry Hawkins (England) – European Masters
Gary Wilson (England) – Scottish Open
Robert Milkins (England) – Welsh Open
Mark Williams (Wales) – British Open
Baipat Siripaporn (Thailand) – Women’s World Championship
Jimmy White (England) – World Seniors Championship
Chris Wakelin (England) – Snooker Shoot Out
Ding Junhui – or winner of the International Championship, if not already qualified*
