Champions Cup (snooker)

The Champions Cup was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament held in England that ran for eight seasons starting in the 1994/1995 season and was originally known as the Charity Challenge. The last champion was John Higgins.

Champions Cup
Tournament information
VenueBrighton Centre
LocationBrighton
CountryEngland
Established1995
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatNon-ranking event
Final year2001
Final championScotland John Higgins

History

The tournament was originally called the Charity Challenge. The event was unique by having the players compete for charity, with the prize money being donated to their respective causes. The event started in the 1994/1995 season and was contested by a 16-man field, but was reduced to an 8-man field by the 1996/1997 season. The event is most notable for Stephen Hendry compiling a maximum break in the deciding frame of the 1997 final against Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is the only time that a maximum break has been made in the deciding frame of a final in professional competition.[1]

After five seasons the charity aspect was dropped and replaced with a new format. The event was re-branded the Champions Cup and was contested by the players, who won major tournaments in the previous season. In its inaugural year it adopted a “winner takes all” format with a £175,000 prize going to the winner, with the other contestants receiving nothing. The winner's prize was the second highest after the World Championship. In subsequent years the event had a more conventional prize money schedule.[1]

The tournament was sponsored by Liverpool Victoria for all but the last two events. In 2000 the event was sponsored by TVN and there was no sponsor in 2001. The event was broadcast on ITV, but was dropped from the calendar after the 2001 event due to ITV discontinuing its snooker coverage.[1]

Winners
Year Winner Runner-up Final score Season
Charity Challenge[1]
1995 Scotland Stephen Hendry Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 9–1 1994/1995
1996[2] England Ronnie O'Sullivan Scotland John Higgins 9–6 1995/1996
1997[3] Scotland Stephen Hendry England Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8 1996/1997
1998[4] Scotland John Higgins England Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8 1997/1998
1999[5] Scotland John Higgins England Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–4 1998/1999
Champions Cup[1][6]
1999[7] Scotland Stephen Hendry Wales Mark Williams 7–5 1999/2000
2000[8] England Ronnie O'Sullivan Wales Mark Williams 7–5 2000/2001
2001[9] Scotland John Higgins Wales Mark Williams 7–4 2001/2002

See also

References
  1. Turner, Chris (2008). "Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge/Champions Sup". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  2. "Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  3. "Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge 1997". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  4. "Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge 1998". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  5. "Charity Challenge 1999". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  6. "Champions Cup Finals". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  7. "Liverpool Victoria Champions Cup 1999". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  8. "Champions Cup 2000". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  9. "Champions Cup 2001". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
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