2020 Tour Championship


The 2020 Tour Championship was a professional snooker tournament, taking place from 20 to 26 June 2020 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the second edition of the Tour Championship and the third and final event of the second season of Coral Cup. It was the 16th and penultimate ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season following the Gibraltar Open and preceding the 2020 World Snooker Championship. The event was originally planned for 17 to 22 March 2020. However, on the morning of 17 March the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following advice by the UK government, it had been decided that no spectators would be permitted at the event.
The draw for the Tour Championship comprised the top eight players based on the single year ranking list, taking part in a single elimination tournament. Each match was played over a minimum of two sessions, with the final taking place over the best-of-19. The winner of the tournament won £150,000 out of a total prize fund of £380,000. The event was sponsored by betting company Coral.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion after defeating Neil Robertson 13–11 in the 2019 final, but he failed to qualify for the 2020 event, placing 18th on the one-year ranking list at the cut-off date. Stephen Maguire defeated Robertson and Judd Trump; whilst Mark Allen defeated Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby to reach the final. Maguire won the final 10–6 to win his sixth ranking event, his first for seven years. Maguire was a replacement for China's Ding Junhui, who was unable to travel to the event due to the COVID-19 situation. In winning the tournament, Maguire also won the Coral Cup.

Overview

The 2020 Tour Championship was the third and final event in the 2020 Coral Cup series, first introduced in the 2018–19 snooker season, after the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship. It was the 16th and penultimate ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season and organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The players qualified for the series by virtue of their placement on the one-year ranking list, rather than by world ranking. The event featured the top eight players from the one-year ranking list taking part in a single elimination tournament. In the Tour Championship, every match was played over multiple. The final was played as a best-of-19 match.
The tournament was primarily broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom. It also aired on Sky Sport in New Zealand, NowTV in Hong Kong, and Superstars Online in China. Eurosport did not broadcast the event, despite covering all but one of the other snooker tournaments in the season. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Coral. The draw for the event was made on 15 March 2020. The Tour Championship was due to be played from 17 to 22 March 2020 in Llandudno, Wales. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, following advice by the UK government no spectators were to be permitted at the event, and postponed. On 5 June 2020 the event was organised to be played between 20 and 26 June 2020 and moved to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. It was be the second professional tournament to be played after the season was halted due to the pandemic after the 2020 Championship League. All players, and staff being admitted into the arena were tested for COVID-19 and put into isolation for the duration of the event.

Prize fund

The event had a prize fund of £380,000, with the winner receiving £150,000. The only difference from the money awarded in 2019 was a slightly increased prize for the highest break. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:

Quarter-finals

The first round of the tournament was the quarter-finals, held from 20 to 23 June, with matches played as the best-of-17 frames. Each match was played over two sessions in the same day. The first match held was between Neil Robertson and Stephen Maguire. Maguire was a replacement for Ding Junhui who could not travel to the event from China due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair had met previously in the season at the Masters, where Maguire trailed 1–5, but won the match 6–5. Maguire took three of the four opening frames to lead 3–1, before Robertson made of 100 and 103 winning the next three. Maguire levelled the score at the end of the opening session at 4–4, with both players having made two century breaks. In the evening session, Robertson won frame nine, but scored only four points in the next four frames, as Maguire made breaks of 103, 135, 111 and 115 to lead 8–5. Maguire made a break of 59 in frame 14 to win the match 9–5.
Maguire made a total of six century breaks during the match, with a total of eight between both players. Both amounts were new records for centuries in a best-of-17 frames match. Desmond Kane writing for Eurosport wrote that the match was the "greatest performance of 22-year career", to which Maguire agreed. Post-match, Robertson commented that the match table was playing easy, and likened the to that of nine-ball, where they are significantly larger.
The second match was played between reigning world champion Judd Trump and John Higgins. The pair had met in the final of the 2019 World Snooker Championship. Due to qualifying for the event, Trump was guaranteed to surpass £1 million in prize money for the season. Trump – the world number one – won both of the opening two frames, but Higgins won frame three on the final. Trump won the next two frames, and led 5–3 after the first session. He also won the first three frames on the resumption of play, with breaks of 67, 53 and 135 to lead 8–3. Higgins won frame 12, but Trump won the next frame to win the match 9–4. This was Trump's fifth win in-a-row against Higgins, but Trump also suggested that the conditions on the playing table were not the same as the day prior.
completed six century breaks in his quarter-final loss to Mark Allen
Yan Bingtao and Mark Selby contested the third quarter-final. Selby won the first frame of the match, but scored only 26 points over the next three frames. Trailing 1–3, Selby won the next three frames with breaks of 99, 119 and 61 to lead 4–3, but Yan won frame eight to tie the match after the first session. In the second session, Selby won the next two of the next three frames, including three breaks of over 50 to lead 7–5. Leading by 64 points, Yan the table to force a. Selby played the black and the ball into the corner pocket. Yan won the next frame, but Selby won frame 16 to win the match 9–6.
The last quarter-final was played between Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy. In the first session, Murphy scored three century breaks to lead 3–2 but lost the next two frames to trail 3–4. Murphy fluked the in frame eight to level the match. Murphy made a break of 100 to win frame nine, and took frame 10 to lead 6–4. Allen won the next frame, but Murphy made a break of 131 to lead 7–5. Allen won the next two frames to tie the match, before Murphy made his sixth century break in the next to lead 8–7. Allen won frame 16 to force a. In the final frame, Allen fluked a and made a break of 62 to win the match 9–8. Murphy's six century breaks equalled the record made by Maguire earlier in the tournament for the most 100+ breaks in a best-of-17-frames match.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were also played as the best-of-17-frames matches over two sessions on 24 and 25 June. Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire contested the first and were the only two players still able to win the Coral Cup. Maguire was required to win the tournament, whilst Trump had to win this match to win the cup. Maguire led 2–1 after the first three frames, before Trump won the next three. Maguire won both frame seven, and then frame eight with a break of 132 to finish the first session equal. The pair shared the next two frames, before Trump won frame 11 after a break of 79. Maguire won frame 12 to tie the match at 6–6, which lasted over 40 minutes. Maguire then won the next three frames to win the match 9–6. ITV commentator and analyst Stephen Hendry commented on Trump's performance saying "That's the worst I think I've seen Judd play for a long time." Trump commented again about the playing conditions, commenting " were pretty poor, and that's why the standard was so bad. If the conditions are good I seem to play well. It's too hot to play snooker today. It's just a shame the conditions are so bad."
The second semi-final was held between Mark Allen and Mark Selby. Allen won all of the first four frames of the match, without Selby potting a single ball. Allen also won the next two frames, to lead 6–0. Selby won frame seven, but Allen won the final frame of the first session to lead 7–1. Selby won frame nine with a break of 71, before Allen won the next two, including a break of 81 in frame eleven to win 9–2.

Final

The final was played as the best-of-19-frames on 26 June 2020 over two sessions. Mark Allen and Stephen Maguire had only met on six occasions previously, with Allen having won four of these. The most recent match was a 6–0 win for Maguire in the 2019 UK Championship semi-final. Allen won the first two frames with breaks of 50 and 76 before Maguire made breaks of 89 and 69 to level the match at 2–2. Maguire won the next frame to lead 3–2 before Allen made a century break to tie the match at 3–3, and the final two frames of the first session were shared between the two to be level at 4–4. In the second session, Maguire made the highest break of the tournament – a 139 – in frame nine. Maguire won the next frame to lead 6–4, and later at 7–5 before the final. Maguire then made breaks of 78 and 53 to lead 9–5 and be one frame from victory. Allen won frame 15 with a break of 107. Frame 16 was full of play, and eventually ended up being decided on the final two colours. Allen had a shot on the, but missed, before Maguire potted both balls to win the frame and match.
This was Maguire's first ranking event win since the 2013 Welsh Open. In winning the event, Maguire also won the prize for the highest break, as well as the Coral Cup, worth £260,000, his highest prize money haul in his career. Allen was promoted to his highest world ranking position in his career – fourth.

Seeding list

The seedings are conducted on the basis of the one-year ranking list up to and including the 2020 Gibraltar Open. Fifth seed Ding Junhui withdrew prior to the tournament due to travel complications during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was replaced by Stephen Maguire, who was ninth on the one-year ranking list.
RankPlayerTotal Points
1706,500
2383,000
3285,500
4274,500
5261,250
6206,500
7165,500
8158,500
Replacement152,000

Coral Cup

The 2018–19 snooker season introduced the Coral Cup series, featuring three events: the World Grand Prix, the Players Championship, and the Tour Championship. For all three events, qualification was based on players' rankings on the one-year ranking list. The top ten players with the most prize money won in total over the three events is shown below:
RankPlayerWorld Grand PrixPlayers ChampionshipTour ChampionshipTotal
1 Stephen Maguire030,000150,000180,000
2 Judd Trump7,500125,00040,000172,500
3 Neil Robertson100,00000100,000
4 Mark Allen015,00060,00075,000
5 Mark Selby015,00040,00055,000
6 Yan Bingtao050,000050,000
7 Graeme Dott40,0000040,000
8 Shaun Murphy030,000030,000
9 John Higgins12,50015,000027,500
= Joe Perry12,50015,000027,500

Main draw

Final

Century breaks

A total of 22 century breaks were made during the tournament, the highest being a 139 made by Stephen Maguire in frame nine of the final.