SNOOKER: FOUR-time World Snooker Champion John Higgins and Joe Perry will complete the line-up for eagerly anticipated Champion of Champions event which gets underway at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Monday.
Perry has been invited to take up Marco Fu’s place in group two after the Hong Kong man withdrew from the tournament, which takes place inside the Ricoh exhibition hall from November 7-12.
Higgins reached the final of the recent China Championship and after Fu’s withdrawal is now guaranteed a place in Coventry.
It looks set to be another high profile line-up with World Number One Mark Selby, two-time winner Neil Robertson and recent European Masters winner Judd Trump all set to play, while the likes of Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen and Ding Junhui have also qualified.
One man who is guaranteed to attract big crowds is two-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan who returns in 2016 after missing last year’s event and he gets the action underway on Monday.
O’Sullivan will take on Shoot Out champion Robin Hull in the tournament’s opening match, with German Masters winner Martin Gould up against World Seniors Champion Mark Davis in the second group 3 semi-final.
The following day in Group 1, defending champion Robertson comes up against Liang Wenbo and Shanghai Masters champion Ding Junhui takes on World Open winner Ali Carter in the afternoon session.
Wednesday features action from Group 2 as World Number One Mark Selby takes on Stuart Bingham while Players Championship winner Mark Allen faces Joe Perry.
The concluding day of group action is Thursday when Group 4 plays out with Shaun Murphy, winner of the World Grand Prix taking on John Higgins followed by China Open and European Masters victor Judd Trump against Indian Open champion Anthony McGill.
The four group winners proceed to the best of 11 semi-finals on Friday (November) with a 19-frame final taking place the following day.
GROUP 3 (Monday)
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Robin Hull
Martin Gould
Mark Davis
GROUP 1 (Tuesday)
Neil Robertson
Stuart Bingham
Ding Junhui
Ali Carter
GROUP 2 (Wednesday)
Mark Selby
Liang Wenbo
Mark Allen
Joe Perry (TBC)
GROUP 4 (Friday)
Shaun Murphy
Judd Trump
John Higgins (TBC)
Anthony McGill
The Dafabet Champion of Champions takes place at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, November 7-12. Tickets are available now at www.championofchampionssnooker.co.uk.