The Players Championship is a professional

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

tournament.

Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...

is the reigning champion.

History

After the establishment of the

Players Tour Championship The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Grand Final, where qualification ...

, the Players Tour Championship Finals was first held in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

at The Helix in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, between the top 24 players of the Order of Merit, who played at least 6 events; 3 in Sheffield and 3 in mainland Europe. The event was sponsored by PartyCasino.com. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

the event moved to the Bailey Allen Hall in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, and was sponsored by

Betfair Betfair is a British Gambling, gambling company which operates the world's largest online betting exchange. Its product offering also includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Founded in 2000, the business is split ...

. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

the event was sponsored by

Dafabet Dafabet is an online betting site. The company was founded on 7 November 2004 and is headquartered in Makati, Philippines. History Dafabet was founded on November 7, 2004, in Makati, Philippines under the subsidiary of the privately-owned com ...

, and the competition was expanded to 32 players. The field consisted of the top 25 players from the UK/European Order of Merit, the top four players from the Asian Order of Merit and the three APTC event winners. The seedings of the final was based on the combined list of both Order of Merits. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

the event moved to the

Guild Hall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

in Preston, England. It was originally planned that the event would take place in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Thailand, but due to the political unrest in the country the

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...

decided to relocate the event. The qualifying criteria were also changed for the 2014 event. The event still accommodated 32 players, but the number of qualified players from the Order of Merits was changed with 24 coming through the European Tour Order of Merit and eight through the Asian Tour Order of Merit. In the 2016/17 season, the

was cancelled and the main event was renamed to Players Championship and moved to

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

, Wales. It is now played between the top 16 players on a one-year ranking list.

Winners

References

{{Snooker tournaments * Recurring sporting events established in 2011 2011 establishments in Ireland *Final Snooker ranking tournaments Snooker competitions in the United Kingdom Snooker competitions in Ireland Snooker in Thailand