The 2021 Championship League was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 18 July to 13 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. The event featured 128 players and was played as three rounds of round-robin groups of four, before a best-of-five final. It was the 17th edition of the Championship League and the first ranking tournament of the 2021–22 snooker season. It was one of two Championship League events held over the season, with a following invitational event held as the 2022 Championship League (invitational).
Kyren Wilson was the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 3–1 in the final of the September to October 2020 edition of the tournament. Wilson's title defence ended in Stage Three, where he finished third in his group. David Gilbert won the tournament, defeating Mark Allen 3–1 to win his first ranking title. Allen made the highest of the event, a 146.
Format The 2021 Championship League was hosted from 18 July to 13 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. 128 players took part in the event. The competition began with 32 rounds of group matches with each group consisting of four players. Two groups were played to a finish every day during three blocks, from 18 to 23 July, from 26 to 30 July and from 2 to 6 August, using a two-table setup in the arena. The groups were contested using a round-robin format, with six matches played in each group. All matches in group play were played as best-of-four frames, with three points awarded for a win and one point for a draw. Group positions were determined by points scored, frame difference and then head-to-head results between players who were tied. Places that were still tied were then determined by the highest made in the group.
The 32 players that topped the group tables qualified for the group winners' stage, consisting of eight groups of four players. The eight winners from the group winners' stage qualified for the two final groups, with the final taking place later on the same day. The winner took the Championship League title and a place at the 2021 Champion of Champions.
Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for the tournament is shown below.
Stage One Winner: £3,000 Runner-up: £2,000 Third place: £1,000 Fourth place: £0
Stage Two Winner: £4,000 Runner-up: £3,000 Third place: £2,000 Fourth place: £1,000
Stage Three Winner: £6,000 Runner-up: £4,000 Third place: £2,000 Fourth place: £1,000
Final Winner: £20,000 Runner-up: £10,000
Tournament total: £328,000
Summary
The first stage was held over 32 groups with 128 participants between 18 July and 6 August. Peter Lines won Group 8 over Mark Williams after winning their match 3–0, despite losing to Jak Jones. Noppon Saengkham won all three of his matches, including over four-time world champion John Higgins to win Group 9. This was Saengkham's first professional match since being forced to withdraw from the 2021 World Snooker Championship due to a positive case of COVID-19. World number 115, Ashley Hugill won Group 24, with wins over John Astley and Stephen Maguire. Former UK Championship winner Maguire finished bottom of the group. Defending champion Wilson lost just two frames as he won Group 16.
The second stage was held over 8 groups with 32 participants between 9 and 12 August. Tom Ford won Group A, after he completed a whitewash over world number one Judd Trump. Ali Carter won Group E over two former world snooker champions Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott, winning all three of his Group matches 3–1. Ronnie O'Sullivan, who had won Group 32, withdrew from the event, and was replaced by second placed Mark Joyce. Joyce, however, finished bottom of Group H, won by David Gilbert.
The final two groups and the final were played on 13 August. Allen won the first of the stage three groups, completing 3–0 victories over Ford and Wilson, as well as a 3–1 win over Bai Langning. During his win over Wilson, Allen made three century breaks of 127, 124 and 146 (the highest of the tournament), where Wilson scored just two points. Despite a loss in the opening match to Cao Yupeng, Gilbert won the second Group after victories over Carter and Ryan Day. The final had Allen win the opening frame with a break of 102, before Gilbert won the remaining three frames with breaks of 59 and 57. This was the first ranking event win of Gilberts 22-year career, having appeared in four previous finals. Gilbert commented after the match that he was "only used to loser's speeches".
Stage One Stage One consisted of 32 groups, each containing four players.
Order of play Date Group 18 July Group 7 18 July Group 8 19 July Group 19 19 July Group 23 20 July Group 6 20 July Group 32 21 July Group 2 21 July Group 28 Date Group 22 July Group 3 22 July Group 10 23 July Group 12 23 July Group 31 26 July Group 13 26 July Group 14 27 July Group 9 27 July Group 26 Date Group 28 July Group 18 28 July Group 29 29 July Group 16 29 July Group 20 30 July Group 21 30 July Group 22 2 August Group 4 2 August Group 24 Date Group 3 August Group 25 3 August Group 27 4 August Group 15 4 August Group 17 5 August Group 11 5 August Group 30 6 August Group 1 6 August Group 5
Group 1 Group 1 was played on 6 August.
Matches
Judd Trump 3–1 Rod Lawler Anthony Hamilton 3–1 Lee Walker Anthony Hamilton 2–2 Rod Lawler Judd Trump 3–1 Lee Walker Lee Walker 3–1 Rod Lawler Judd Trump 3–1 Anthony Hamilton
Table Player 1 3 3 0 0 9 3 +6 92 9 2 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 119 4 3 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 74 3 4 3 0 1 2 4 8 −4 88 1
Group 2 Group 2 was played on 21 July.
Matches
Stuart Carrington 3–0 Duane Jones Jordan Brown 3–0 Michael Judge Jordan Brown 2–2 Duane Jones Stuart Carrington 3–1 Michael Judge Jordan Brown 2–2 Stuart Carrington Duane Jones 2–2 Michael Judge
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 137 7 2 3 1 2 0 7 4 +3 78 5 3 3 0 2 1 4 7 −3 91 2 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 65 1
Group 3 Group 3 was played on 22 July.
Matches
Tom Ford 2–2 Simon Blackwell Simon Lichtenberg 2–2 Reanne Evans Simon Lichtenberg 3–0 Simon Blackwell Tom Ford 2–2 Reanne Evans Reanne Evans 1–3 Simon Blackwell Tom Ford 3–1 Simon Lichtenberg
Table Player 1 3 1 2 0 7 5 +2 77 5 2 3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 81 4 3 3 1 1 1 5 6 −1 57 4 4 3 0 2 1 5 7 −2 60 2
Group 4 Group 4 was played on 2 August.
Matches
Joe Perry 3–0 Jimmy White Jimmy Robertson 3–0 Sean Maddocks Jimmy Robertson 2–2 Jimmy White Joe Perry 3–0 Sean Maddocks Sean Maddocks 0–3 Jimmy White Joe Perry 1–3 Jimmy Robertson
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 140 7 2 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 92 6 3 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 80 44 3 0 0 3 0 9 −9 28 0
Group 5 Group 5 was played on 6 August.
Matches
Chris Wakelin 0–3 Mitchell Mann Mark Allen 3–0 Daniel Womersley Mark Allen 2–2 Mitchell Mann Chris Wakelin 2–2 Daniel Womersley Mark Allen 3–0 Chris Wakelin Mitchell Mann 2–2 Daniel Womersley
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 137 7 2 3 1 2 0 7 4 +3 132 5 3 3 0 2 1 4 7 −3 2 4 3 0 1 2 2 8 −6 60 1
Group 6 Group 6 was played on 20 July.
Matches
Andrew Higginson 2–2 Fergal O'Brien Michael Holt 2–2 Mark Lloyd Michael Holt 2–2 Fergal O'Brien Andrew Higginson 3–0 Mark Lloyd Michael Holt 3–0 Andrew Higginson Fergal O'Brien 3–0 Mark Lloyd
Table Player 1 3 1 2 0 7 4 +3 100 5 2 3 1 2 0 7 4 +3 67 5 3 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 74 4 4 3 0 1 2 2 8 −6 1
Group 7 Group 7 was played on 18 July.
Matches
Nigel Bond 2–2 Allan Taylor Ricky Walden 3–1 Oliver Brown Ricky Walden 3–0 Allan Taylor Nigel Bond 2–2 Oliver Brown Ricky Walden 3–0 Nigel Bond Allan Taylor 3–1 Oliver Brown
Table Player 1 3 3 0 0 9 1 +8 112 9 2 3 1 1 1 5 6 −1 47 4 3 3 0 2 1 4 7 −3 46 2 4 3 0 1 2 4 8 −4 1
Group 8 Group 8 was played on 18 July.
Matches
Mark Williams 3–0 Hammad Miah Jak Jones 3–1 Peter Lines Jak Jones 2–2 Hammad Miah Mark Williams 0–3 Peter Lines Peter Lines 3–1 Hammad Miah Mark Williams 3–1 Jak Jones
Table Player 1 3 2 0 1 7 4 +3 100 6 2 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 74 6 3 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 76 4 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 66 1
Group 9 Group 9 was played on 27 July.
Matches
John Higgins 3–0 Soheil Vahedi Noppon Saengkham 3–1 Igor Figueiredo Noppon Saengkham 3–1 Soheil Vahedi John Higgins 3–0 Igor Figueiredo Igor Figueiredo 2–2 Soheil Vahedi John Higgins 1–3 Noppon Saengkham
Table Player 1 3 3 0 0 9 3 +6 114 9 2 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 130 6 3 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 119 1 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 80 1
Group 10 Group 10 was played on 22 July.
Matches
David Grace 3–0 Farakh Ajaib Ben Fortey 0–3 Bai Langning Ben Fortey 2–2 Farakh Ajaib David Grace 0–3 Bai Langning Ben Fortey 1–3 David Grace Farakh Ajaib 2–2 Bai Langning
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 80 7 2 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 96 6 3 3 0 2 1 4 7 −3 40 2 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 1
Lu Ning was originally due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Ben Fortey.
Group 11 Group 11 was played on 5 August.
Matches
Joe O'Connor 2–2 Andy Hicks Zhao Xintong 2–2 David Lilley Zhao Xintong 3–1 Andy Hicks Joe O'Connor 0–3 David Lilley Zhao Xintong 1–3 Joe O'Connor Andy Hicks 1–3 David Lilley
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 78 7 2 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 98 4 3 3 1 1 1 5 6 −1 116 4 4 3 0 1 2 4 8 −4 127 1
Group 12 Group 12 was played on 23 July.
Matches
Anthony McGill 1–3 Billy Castle Mark Davis 2–2 Yuan Sijun Mark Davis 3–0 Billy Castle Anthony McGill 0–3 Yuan Sijun Yuan Sijun 3–1 Billy Castle Anthony McGill 0–3 Mark Davis
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 66 7 2 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 111 7 3 3 1 0 2 4 7 −3 51 3 4 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 66 0
Group 13 Group 13 was played on 26 July.
Matches
Oliver Lines 2–2 Peter Devlin Joshua Thomond 3–0 Luke Pinches Joshua Thomond 0–3 Peter Devlin Oliver Lines 3–0 Luke Pinches Joshua Thomond 0–3 Oliver Lines Peter Devlin 3–0 Luke Pinches
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 93 7 2 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 76 7 3 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 85 3 4 3 0 0 3 0 9 −9 0
Zhou Yuelong was originally due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Joshua Thomond.
Group 14 Group 14 was played on 26 July.
Matches
Martin Gould 2–2 Ryan Davies Ken Doherty 3–1 Rory McLeod Ken Doherty 3–0 Ryan Davies Martin Gould 2–2 Rory McLeod Rory McLeod 3–1 Ryan Davies Martin Gould 2–2 Ken Doherty
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 89 7 2 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 81 4 3 3 0 3 0 6 6 0 52 3 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 1
Group 15 Group 15 was played on 4 August.
Matches
Mark King 3–1 Andrew Pagett Matthew Stevens 3–1 Ross Muir Matthew Stevens 1–3 Andrew Pagett Mark King 2–2 Ross Muir Matthew Stevens 3–1 Mark King Andrew Pagett 1–3 Ross Muir
Table Player 1 3 2 0 1 7 5 +2 130 6 2 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 64 4 3 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 58 4 4 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 53 3
Group 16 Group 16 was played on 29 July.
Matches
Kyren Wilson 3–1 Dylan Emery Sam Craigie 3–0 Ben Hancorn Sam Craigie 3–0 Dylan Emery Kyren Wilson 3–1 Ben Hancorn Ben Hancorn 2–2 Dylan Emery Kyren Wilson 3–0 Sam Craigie
Table Player 1 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 68 9 2 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 90 6 3 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 66 1 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 64 1
Group 17 Group 17 was played on 4 August.
Matches
Shaun Murphy 3–0 Michael Collumb Jamie Jones 3–1 Chen Zifan Jamie Jones 2–2 Michael Collumb Shaun Murphy 3–1 Chen Zifan Chen Zifan 2–2 Michael Collumb Shaun Murphy 2–2 Jamie Jones
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 100 7 2 3 1 2 0 7 5 +2 102 5 3 3 0 2 1 4 7 −3 73 2 4 3 0 1 2 4 8 −4 97 1
Group 18 Group 18 was played on 28 July.
Matches
Zhao Jianbo 2–2 Gerard Greene Robert Milkins 1–3 Haydon Pinhey Robert Milkins 0–3 Gerard Greene Zhao Jianbo 3–0 Haydon Pinhey Robert Milkins 2–2 Zhao Jianbo Gerard Greene 3–1 Haydon Pinhey
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 61 7 2 3 1 2 0 7 4 +3 93 5 3 3 1 0 2 4 7 −3 75 3 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 111 1
Group 19 Group 19 was played on 19 July.
Matches
Ali Carter 3–1 Michael Georgiou Dominic Dale 2–2 Sydney Wilson Dominic Dale 2–2 Michael Georgiou Ali Carter 3–0 Sydney Wilson Sydney Wilson 1–3 Michael Georgiou Ali Carter 2–2 Dominic Dale
Table Player 1 3 2 1 0 8 3 +5 79 7 2 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 94 4 3 3 0 3 0 6 6 0 54 3 4 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 102 1
Alfie Burden was originally due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Sydney Wilson.