2018 Championship League


The 2018 Championship League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament taking place It was the 11th staging of the tournament.
The defending champion John Higgins retained his title with a 3–2 final win over Zhou Yuelong. As in the previous edition of the tournament Higgins had entered the competition in Group 7 and from there won his way through to the Winners' Group.
Martin Gould and Luca Brecel both made their maiden official maximum breaks in this tournament. Gould achieved his maximum in the deciding frame of his Group 6 round robin match against. Brecel achieved his in the third frame of a 3–0 whitewash of defending champion John Higgins in their Group 7 round robin match. These were the 135th and 136th official maximum breaks and the fourth and fifth of the 2017/2018 season. It was the fifth consecutive year that a maximum was made in the Championship League, and the second consecutive year that two were made.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the 2018 Championship League is shown below.
;Group 1–7
;Winners' Group
Group 1 was played on 2 and 3 January 2018. Zhou Yuelong was the first player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

Matches

Play-offs

Group 2

Group 2 was played on 4 and 5 January 2018. Mark Selby was the second player to qualify for the Winners' Group, recording his 500th career century in the Group 2 final against Barry Hawkins.

Matches

;Note
* Neil Robertson had to pull out of the Championship League due to personal reasons after his fifth match. Results from Robertson's previous matches were removed from the group table.

Table

Play-offs

Group 3

Group 3 was played on 8 and 9 January 2018. Kyren Wilson was the third player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

Matches

;Note
Anthony McGill withdrew before the tournament and was replaced by Tom Ford.

Table

Play-offs

Group 4

Group 4 was played on 10 and 11 January 2018. Ali Carter was the fourth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

Matches

;Note
* Mark Allen had to withdraw due to family reasons prior to his second match in the group. The result from Allen's first match in the group was removed from the group table.

Table

Play-offs

Group 5

Group 5 was played on 23 and 24 January 2018. Mark Williams was the fifth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

Matches

;Note
Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy and Liang Wenbo withdrew from the tournament and were replaced by Joe Perry, David Gilbert and Ben Woollaston.

Table

Play-offs

Group 6

Group 6 was played on 25 and 26 January 2018. Martin Gould was the sixth player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

Matches

Play-offs

Group 7

Group 7 was played on 26 and 27 March 2018. John Higgins was the seventh player to qualify for the Winners' Group.

Matches

;Notes
Graeme Dott and Li Hang withdrew from the tournament prior to Group 7 play. They were replaced by Dominic Dale and Jimmy Robertson.

Table

Play-offs

Winners' Group

The Winners' Group was played on 28 and 29 March 2018. In the final, John Higgins defeated Zhou Yuelong 3–2 to retain his Championship League title and win it for the second time in his career.

Matches

;Notes
* Zhou Yuelong was awarded the first frame, due to Mark Selby arriving late.

Table

Play-offs

Century breaks

Total: 116
110, 109, 108, 104, 103, 100, 100, 100 Judd Trump
Bold: highest break in the indicated group.

Winnings

Green: won the group. Bold: highest break in the group. All prize money in GBP.
Notes
Neil Robertson withdrew due to personal reasons after his fifth match in Group 2.
Mark Allen withdrew due to family reasons after his first match in Group 4.
Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy and Liang Wenbo withdrew from the tournament prior to Group 5 play.
Graeme Dott and Li Hang withdrew from the tournament prior to Group 7 play.