The Champions Cup was a professional non-

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 ...

snooker tournament held in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that ran for eight seasons starting in the 1994/1995 season and was originally known as the Charity Challenge. The last champion was

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

History

The tournament was originally called the Charity Challenge. The event was unique by having the players compete for

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

, with the prize money being donated to their respective causes. The event started in the 1994/1995 season and was contested by a 16-man field, but was reduced to an 8-man field by the 1996/1997 season. The event is most notable for Stephen Hendry compiling a

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

in the deciding frame of the 1997 final against

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

. It is the only time that a maximum break has been made in the deciding frame of a final in professional competition. After five seasons the charity aspect was dropped and replaced with a new format. The event was re-branded the Champions Cup and was contested by the players, who won major tournaments in the previous season. In its inaugural year it adopted a “winner takes all” format with a £175,000 prize going to the winner, with the other contestants receiving nothing. The winner's prize was the second highest after the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In subsequent years the event had a more conventional prize money schedule. The tournament was sponsored by

Liverpool Victoria Liverpool Victoria, trading since May 2007 as LV=, is one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance companies. It offers a range of insurance and retirement products. History The First Hundred Years The first known meeting of the Society was ...

for all but the last two events. In 2000 the event was sponsored by TVN and there was no sponsor in 2001. The event was broadcast on ITV, but was dropped from the calendar after the 2001 event due to ITV discontinuing its snooker coverage.

Winners

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champions Cup Snooker non-ranking competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1995 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2001 1995 establishments in England 2001 disestablishments in England Snooker competitions in England Defunct snooker competitions Defunct sports competitions in England

History

Winners

See also

References