It appears to have been something which passed me by in August, around the time that I and the rest of the snooker tour were battling the heat at the Doncaster Dome, but World Snooker have released the group stage draw for the inaugural Champion of Champions event, which will take place between 19-24 November 2013 at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry…
With matches to be played under the best of 7, 11 and 19 frames, the group stage draw and provisional schedule is as follows:
Group 1 (Friday November 22)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) v Wildcard (16)
Ding Junhui (8) v Barry Hawkins (9)
Group 2 (Tuesday November 19)
Mark Selby (2) v Wildcard (15)
John Higgins (7) v Stephen Maguire (10)
Group 3 (Wednesday November 20)
Judd Trump (3) v Marco Fu (14)
Ricky Walden (6) v Stuart Bingham (11)
Group 4 (Thursday November 21)
Neil Robertson (4) v Martin Gould (13)
Mark Allen (5) v Ali Carter (12)
As you can see, there is space in the draw for a further two wildcard players, who I understand were to be the winners of the Shanghai Masters and Indian Open tournaments, though with the already qualified Ding Junhui taking the Shanghai title yesterday, it remains to be seen who will get the nod.
Looking at the list, Shaun Murphy would appear to be the glaring omission in terms of ranking, while Mark Williams would be another name which would spring to mind.
UPDATE: It has been confirmed by Dave Hendon that Shaun Murphy will take the penultimate spot in the tournament, following Ding’s victory in Shanghai.
More news, as and when it becomes available…