2022 BetVictor Championship League Invitational

Tournament information
Dates	20 December 2021 – 4 February 2022 (2021-12-20 – 2022-02-04)
Venue	Morningside Arena
City	Leicester
Country	England
Organisation	Matchroom Sport
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£184,400
Winner's share	£10,000 (plus bonuses)
Highest break	Zhao Xintong (CHN) (143)
Final
Champion	John Higgins (SCO)
Runner-up	Stuart Bingham (ENG)
Score	3–2
← 2021 (ranking) ← 2021 (invitational) 2022 (ranking)→ 2023 (invitational) →

The 2022 Championship League Invitational (officially the 2022 BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 20 December 2021 to 4 February 2022 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. It was the 18th staging of the Championship League.^[1]

Kyren Wilson was the defending champion, having beaten Mark Williams 3–2 in the final of the previous invitational edition of the tournament.^[2] His defence of the title ended in the Group 7 semi-finals, where he was beaten 3–1 by John Higgins.

John Higgins went on to win the tournament for the third time, beating Stuart Bingham 3–2 in the final.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the 2022 Championship League is shown below.^[3]

• Tournament total: £184,400

Group 1

Group 1 was played on 20 and 21 December 2021. Liang Wenbo won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.^[4]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Graeme Dott (SCO)	6	6	0	18	8	+10	Qualification to Group 1 play-off
2	Liang Wenbo (CHN)	6	3	3	15	13	+2
3	Ryan Day (WAL)	6	3	3	13	14	−1
4	Jack Lisowski (ENG)	6	3	3	11	13	−2
5	Gary Wilson (ENG)	6	2	4	12	14	−2	Advances into Group 2
6	Tom Ford (ENG)	6	2	4	11	14	−3	Eliminated from the competition
7	Zhou Yuelong (CHN)	6	2	4	11	15	−4

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Group 1

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Graeme Dott (SCO)	1
	Jack Lisowski (ENG)	3
					Jack Lisowski (ENG)	1
					Liang Wenbo (CHN)	3
	Liang Wenbo (CHN)	3
	Ryan Day (WAL)	2

Group 2

Group 2 was played on 22 and 23 December 2021. Graeme Dott won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.^[5]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Ryan Day (WAL)	6	4	2	16	9	+7	Qualification to Group 2 play-off
2	Lu Ning (CHN)	6	4	2	15	10	+5
3	Joe Perry (ENG)	6	4	2	12	13	−1
4	Graeme Dott (SCO)	6	3	3	14	12	+2
5	Xiao Guodong (CHN)	6	3	3	13	15	−2	Advances into Group 3
6	Jack Lisowski (ENG)	6	2	4	13	15	−2	Eliminated from the competition
7	Gary Wilson (ENG)	6	1	5	8	17	−9

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Group 2

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Ryan Day (WAL)	2
	Graeme Dott (SCO)	3
					Graeme Dott (SCO)	3
					Lu Ning (CHN)	1
	Lu Ning (CHN)	3
	Joe Perry (ENG)	2

Group 3

Group 3 was played on 3 and 4 January 2022. Mark Williams was due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Zhao Xintong. Zhao won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.^[6]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Zhao Xintong (CHN)	6	6	0	18	4	+14	Qualification to Group 3 play-off
2	Mark Selby (ENG)	6	4	2	14	9	+5
3	Xiao Guodong (CHN)	6	4	2	14	13	+1
4	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	6	3	3	14	13	+1
5	Lu Ning (CHN)	6	2	4	12	14	−2	Advances into Group 4
6	Joe Perry (ENG)	6	1	5	9	17	−8	Eliminated from the competition
7	Ryan Day (WAL)	6	1	5	6	17	−11

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Group 3

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Zhao Xintong (CHN)	3
	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	1
					Zhao Xintong (CHN)	3
					Xiao Guodong (CHN)	2
	Mark Selby (ENG)	1
	Xiao Guodong (CHN)	3

Group 4

Group 4 was played on 5 and 6 January 2022. Barry Hawkins was due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Scott Donaldson. Stuart Bingham won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.^[7]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	6	6	0	18	8	+10	Qualification to Group 4 play-off
2	Mark Selby (ENG)	6	5	1	17	8	+9
3	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	6	3	3	13	12	+1
4	Scott Donaldson (SCO)	6	3	3	11	12	−1
5	Lu Ning (CHN)	6	2	4	11	16	−5	Advances into Group 5
6	Judd Trump (ENG)	6	2	4	10	13	−3	Eliminated from the competition
7	Xiao Guodong (CHN)	6	0	6	7	18	−11

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Group 4

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	3
	Scott Donaldson (SCO)	0
					Kyren Wilson (ENG)	2
					Stuart Bingham (ENG)	3
	Mark Selby (ENG)	2
	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	3

Group 5

Group 5 was played on 7 and 8 January 2022. Mark Selby was due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Jordan Brown. Scott Donaldson won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.^[8]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Jordan Brown (NIR)	6	5	1	16	9	+7	Qualification to Group 5 play-off
2	Scott Donaldson (SCO)	6	4	2	16	7	+9
3	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	6	3	3	12	11	+1
4	Ali Carter (ENG)	6	3	3	11	13	−2
5	Martin Gould (ENG)	6	3	3	10	13	−3	Advances into Group 6
6	David Gilbert (ENG)	6	2	4	12	15	−3	Eliminated from the competition
7	Lu Ning (CHN)	6	1	5	8	17	−9

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Group 5

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Jordan Brown (NIR)	3
	Ali Carter (ENG)	0
					Jordan Brown (NIR)	2
					Scott Donaldson (SCO)	3
	Scott Donaldson (SCO)	3
	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	2

Group 6

Group 6 was played on 17 and 18 January 2022. Ricky Walden was due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Matthew Selt. Yan Bingtao won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.^[9]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Yan Bingtao (CHN)	6	5	1	17	5	+12	Qualification to Group 6 play-off
2	Martin Gould (ENG)	6	4	2	14	13	+1
3	Ding Junhui (CHN)	6	4	2	13	13	0
4	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	6	3	3	13	10	+3
5	Ali Carter (ENG)	6	2	4	10	12	−2	Advances into Group 7
6	Jordan Brown (NIR)	6	2	4	10	15	−5	Eliminated from the competition
7	Matthew Selt (ENG)	6	1	5	8	17	−9

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Group 6

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Yan Bingtao (CHN)	3
	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	0
					Yan Bingtao (CHN)	3
					Martin Gould (ENG)	1
	Martin Gould (ENG)	3
	Ding Junhui (CHN)	2

Group 7

Group 7 was played on 1 and 2 February 2022. Neil Robertson was due to take part in this group, but withdrew and was replaced by Ricky Walden. John Higgins won the group and qualified for the Winners' Group.^[10]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Ali Carter (ENG)	6	5	1	16	8	+8	Qualification to Group 7 play-off
2	John Higgins (SCO)	6	5	1	15	8	+7
3	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	6	4	2	15	7	+8
4	Ding Junhui (CHN)	6	3	3	13	13	0
5	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)	6	2	4	10	16	−6	Eliminated from the competition
6	Ricky Walden (ENG)	6	1	5	9	17	−8
7	Martin Gould (ENG)	6	1	5	8	17	−9

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Group 7

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Ali Carter (ENG)	2
	Ding Junhui (CHN)	3
					Ding Junhui (CHN)	2
					John Higgins (SCO)	3
	John Higgins (SCO)	3
	Kyren Wilson (ENG)	1

Winners' Group

The Winners' Group was played on 3 and 4 February 2022. John Higgins won the Championship League for a third time, beating Stuart Bingham 3–2 in the final.^[11]

Table

Pos	Player	Pld	W	L	FF	FA	FD
1	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	6	5	1	15	9	+6	Qualification to Winners' Group play-off
2	Yan Bingtao (CHN)	6	4	2	16	6	+10
3	John Higgins (SCO)	6	4	2	14	12	+2
4	Liang Wenbo (CHN)	6	2	4	10	12	−2
5	Graeme Dott (SCO)	6	2	4	10	15	−5	Eliminated from the competition
6	Zhao Xintong (CHN)	6	2	4	10	15	−5
7	Scott Donaldson (SCO)	6	2	4	8	14	−6

Source: 2022 Championship League Snooker Winners' Group

Play-offs

	Semi-finals Best of 5 frames				Final Best of 5 frames
	Stuart Bingham (ENG)	3
	Liang Wenbo (CHN)[nb 1]	2
					Stuart Bingham (ENG)	2
					John Higgins (SCO)	3
	Yan Bingtao (CHN)	2
	John Higgins (SCO)	3

1. ↑ Liang Wenbo was docked the first frame for being late, so only four frames were physically played.

Century breaks

A total of 127 century breaks were made during the tournament.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

Bold: highest break in the indicated group.

Winnings

No.	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	W	TOTAL
1	John Higgins (SCO) (7)							6,300	14,600	20,900
2	Stuart Bingham (ENG) (14)			3,200	6,100				9,500	18,800
3	Kyren Wilson (ENG) (5)				5,300	2,800	2,550	2,800		13,450
4	Yan Bingtao (CHN) (16)						6,500		6,800	13,300
5	Liang Wenbo (CHN) (37)	6,550							5,600	12,150
6	Graeme Dott (SCO) (19)	3,100	6,200						2,000	11,300
7	Scott Donaldson (SCO) (35)				2,100	6,900			1,600	10,600
8	Zhao Xintong (CHN) (9)			6,600					3,000	9,600
9	Lu Ning (CHN) (31)		4,700	1,200	1,600	800				8,300
10	Ding Junhui (CHN) (27)						2,900	4,800		7,700
11	Ryan Day (WAL) (26)	2,900	3,700	600						7,200
12	Ali Carter (ENG) (22)					2,100	1,250	3,700		7,050
13	Xiao Guodong (CHN) (30)		1,300	4,900	700					6,900
14	Martin Gould (ENG) (21)					1,000	4,600	800		6,400
15	Jordan Brown (NIR) (28)					5,100	1,000			6,100
16	Mark Selby (ENG)(a) (1)			2,700	3,300					6,000
17	Jack Lisowski (ENG) (13)	4,300	1,300							5,600
18	Joe Perry (ENG) (32)		2,800	900						3,700
19	Gary Wilson (ENG) (25)	1,200	800							2,000
20	Zhou Yuelong (CHN) (17)	1,350								1,350
21	David Gilbert (ENG) (20)					1,200				1,200
22	Tom Ford (ENG) (24)	1,100								1,100
23	Judd Trump (ENG) (2)				1,000					1,000
=	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3)							1,000		1,000
25	Ricky Walden (ENG) (23)							900		900
26	Matthew Selt (ENG) (29)						800			800
	Total prize money	20,500	20,800	20,100	20,100	19,900	19,600	20,300	43,100	184,400

Green: Won the group. Bold: Highest break in the group. All prize money in GBP.
Parenthesis: Ranking prior to tournament start, 19 December 2021.
Notes
^(a) Mark Selby withdrew from the tournament prior to group 5 play.

References