Champion of Champions 2015
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Dafabet Champion of Champions 2015
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| Tournament type: | Invitation tournament |
| Attendees: | 16 |
| Venue: | Ricoh Arena , Coventry |
| Opening: | November 10, 2015 |
| Endgame: | 15th November 2015
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| Winner: |
 Neil Robertson
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| Finalist: |
 Mark Allen
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| Highest Break: | 144 ( Neil Robertson )
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The Dafabet Champion of Champions in 2015 was a snooker -Einladungsturnier which from 10 to 15 November 2015 at the Ricoh Arena in the English city of Coventry was held. Since the 2013 edition, Ronnie O'Sullivan has won this competition twice. However, he canceled his participation. After him, the two-time tournament winner and world number one Mark Selby was the top seeded player, who was eliminated 1: 4 in Round 1 against the Scottish Stephen Maguire .
In the final, Australian Neil Robertson beat Northern Irishman Mark Allen 10: 5 and also played the highest break of the tournament with 144 points against Joe Perry .
Prize money
All winnings have remained unchanged since 2013.
| Prize money | |
|---|---|
| winner | £ 100,000 |
| finalist | £ 50,000 |
| Semi-finalist | £ 20,000 |
| Quarter finalist | £ 10,000 |
| Round of 16 | £ 5,000 |
| All in all | £ 270,000 |
Attendees
After the rejection of Ronnie O'Sullivan , number one on the original seeding list, John Higgins moved up to the vacant seat. The seeded players and the eight other participants for the tournament are, with Mark Allen only qualifying at the last minute with his win at the Bulgarian Open 2015 :
* John Higgins was placed retrospectively, a number was not officially assigned
Tournament course
Group stage
The so-called group stage (round of 16 and quarter finals) began on November 10th with the reigning world champion Stuart Bingham's group . A different group plays on each of the following three days.
On the first day there were already two surprises when both seeded players lost their opening match. World champion Stuart Bingham was again unable to use a 3-1 lead this season and lost three frames in a row against team world cup winner Zhou Yuelong . Judd Trump was able to equalize twice against Kyren Wilson , but then lost two frames in a row. In the group final, Zhou had the better start, but then Wilson won three frames in a row and never gave up the lead. In the second group, the routine prevailed. John Higgins at 40 and Joe Perry at 41 played for group victory. At 3: 4, John Higgins was able to avert a preliminary decision and instead take the lead again. But it came to the decision frame that Joe Perry won convincingly. It was only his second victory over the Scots in the tenth meeting. On the third day there was another surprise: The second team world cup winner Yan Bingtao also won his opening game against a top player. Shaun Murphy , number 4 in the world rankings, took the lead twice, but the Chinese equalized immediately and finally took two frames in a row to a 4-2 victory. Neil Robertson won a smooth 4-0 win against Rory McLeod , who never got into the game. Yan had the better start in the quarterfinals, but Robertson then won four frames in a row. Even if the only 15-year-old young player made it again, the Australian played out his 6-3 victory with ease. The fourth group was again the group of outsiders. Stephen Maguire started against world number one Mark Selby with the highest tournament break of 134 points and used the momentum up to the decisive 3-0 lead. Selby managed to gain a frame, then the Scot made the victory perfect. Mark Allen , who had qualified last week by winning the Bulgarian Open , defeated Barry Hawkins 4-2 after a changeable start . In the group finals he had the better end for himself in the first three frames. When Maguire didn't manage a break of 68 points in the fourth frame and the Nordire was still able to steal the frame with 69 points, the preliminary decision had been made. Maguire came out of the break with determination and countered with a century break . But he only managed to gain one frame and Allen concluded the match with another Century to 6: 2.
Semifinals
Neil Robertson and Joe Perry, who knew each other well as training partners, contested the first semifinals in the afternoon. After a hard-fought start, the Australian managed a 144 break to take the 3-1 lead in the fourth frame. Perry managed to fight back to 4: 4. But in the two following frames Robertson got the decisive breaks and he moved 6: 4 into the final. He reached the tournament finals for the first time, having been eliminated both times in the semi-finals.
It was also the third tournament in a row for Mark Allen, but he was in the semi-finals for the first time. For the 23-year-old Kyren Wilson it was the first championship tournament and he also took the lead 1-0 in the second semi-final game. But after that Mark Allen got four wins in a row. Wilson used a weaker phase of Northern Ireland to make it 3: 4 before Allen made the final perfect with two frame wins.
Tournament schedule
The results in the overall overview:
| Round of 16 best of 7 frames |
Quarterfinals Best of 11 frames |
Semi-final best of 11 frames |
Final Best of 19 frames |
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 John Higgins
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4th | ||||||||||||||||
 Ali Carter
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2 | |||||||||||||||||
| - |
John Higgins
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5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8th |
Joe Perry
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 8th |
Joe Perry
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4th | ||||||||||||||||
 Michael White
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2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8th |
Joe Perry
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4th | ||||||||||||||||
| 4th |
Neil Robertson
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 4th |
Neil Robertson
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4th | ||||||||||||||||
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Rory McLeod
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4th |
Neil Robertson
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
 Yan Bingtao
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 |
Shaun Murphy
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2 | ||||||||||||||||
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Yan Bingtao
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4th | |||||||||||||||||
| 4th |
Neil Robertson
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10 | ||||||||||||||||
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Mark Allen
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5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 |
Mark Selby
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1 | ||||||||||||||||
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Stephen Maguire
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4th | |||||||||||||||||
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Stephen Maguire
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2 | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark Allen
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6th | |||||||||||||||||
| 7th |
Barry Hawkins
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2 | ||||||||||||||||
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Mark Allen
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4th | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark Allen
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6th | |||||||||||||||||
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Kyren Wilson
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 |
Stuart Bingham
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3 | ||||||||||||||||
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Zhou Yuelong
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4th | |||||||||||||||||
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Zhou Yuelong
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Kyren Wilson
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6th | |||||||||||||||||
| 6th |
Judd Trump
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2 | ||||||||||||||||
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Kyren Wilson
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4th | |||||||||||||||||
Final statistics
After a competitive first game that went to Robertson, Allen got the final rolling with a century break . But it was Robertson who then pulled away with long beginners and high breaks, including a Century, to 4: 1. He was able to defend the lead of three frames until the end of the first session. He also got off to a better start in the evening and won the first two frames to take the lead 8-3. A 54 break in the twelfth frame was not enough for the Australian and Mark Allen stole the frame on the colors. When the Northern Irishman followed up with his second century break, he seemed to be able to come back again. But in the next frame there was an extremely confused position and no player could even play a real break. It was Allen who made the crucial mistake, after all, and allowed Robertson to punch the final colors. The 15th frame was also rather messy. Here, too, the Australian had the better end and was able to finish at 10: 5.
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Final: Best of 19 Frames Referee: Paul Collier Ricoh Arena , Coventry , England , 15th November 2015 |
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Neil Robertson
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10 : 5 |
Mark Allen
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Afternoon games: 63 : 35, 20: 107 (103), 97 : 6 (53), 133 : 0 (114), 69 : 20 (69), 45: 57 , 69 : 44 (59), 5: 81 (60 ), 75 : 25 (71) evening games: 86 : 0 (60), 76 : 35, 55: 65 (54 Robertson), 0: 112 (112), 46 : 38, 56 : 24 |
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| 114 | Highest break | 112 |
| 1 | Century breaks | 2 |
| 7th | 50+ breaks | 3 |
Century breaks
After 20 and 22 century breaks in previous years, only 14 breaks of 100 or more points were achieved this time. Neil Robertson was once again one of the most successful players, surpassed by Mark Allen , who played 2 of his 4 Centurys against him in the final.
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Neil Robertson
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144, 114, 109 |
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Stephen Maguire
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134, 107 |
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Barry Hawkins
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131 |
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Ali Carter
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128, 124 |
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Mark Allen
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112, 105, 104, 103 |
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Joe Perry
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112 |
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Judd Trump
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104 |
swell
- ↑ O'Sullivan Declines Champion of the Champions. Champion of Champions Snooker, accessed October 7, 2015 .
- ^ Prize Fund. Champion of Champions Snooker, accessed October 7, 2015 .
- ^ Champion of Champions Groups Announced. In: worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , October 17, 2014, accessed October 12, 2015 .
- ↑ Players. Champion of Champions Snooker, accessed November 9, 2015 .
- ↑ Allen earns final invite. Champion of Champions Snooker, accessed November 9, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Champion of Champions (2015). Snooker.org, accessed November 13, 2015 .
- ^ Wilson Wins Group 3rd World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , November 11, 2015, accessed November 12, 2015 .
- ^ Perry into Ricoh Semis. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , November 12, 2015, accessed November 12, 2015 .
- ^ Robertson Ends Yan Challenge. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , November 13, 2015, accessed November 15, 2015 .
- ^ Allen Completes Semis Line Up. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , November 13, 2015, accessed November 15, 2015 .
- ^ Robertson to Face Allen in Coventry Final. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , November 14, 2015, accessed November 15, 2015 .
- ^ Robertson Is Champion of Champions. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association , November 15, 2015, accessed November 16, 2015 .
- ^ Centuries. (No longer available online.) Worldsnooker.com, archived from the original on November 12, 2015 ; accessed on November 13, 2015 .