Champion of Champions 2025 | The Race to Landywood
The 2025 Champion of Champions takes place at the Landywood Snooker Club on Saturday 14 June and the race to qualify for the season finale is hotting up with just one ranking event to go.
The prestigious one-day event sees the top two ranked players from each classification group invited to compete for the Nick Oliver Trophy in a best-of-11 frame contest at the Landywood Snooker Club.
Read below to find out how the race shapes up in each group heading into the 2025 Hull Open. Please note that the ranking lists below are provisional, with the 2023 Hull Open points already removed.
Group 1+2
- Dave Beaumont (Q) – 64,700
- Tony Southern – 40,500
- Gary Swift – 31,700
Dave Beaumont is guaranteed to compete in his maiden Champion of Champions event following a remarkable 12-month period which has seen him win five ranking event titles as well as reaching the final of the first ever World Disability Snooker Championship final.
He looks set to be joined by defending champion Tony Southern, who holds an 8,800 point advantage over reigning Group 1 world champion Gary Swift heading into the Hull Open.
Swift, who lost in the final of the season-closer last year, would need to win the title in Hull and hope that Southern made an early exit in order to overtake him into second.
Should Southern secure a meeting with Beaumont then he would be contesting his fourth Champion of Champions final in five stagings.
Group 3
- Kal Mattu (Q) – 54,450
- Daniel Kelly – 46,000
- Joe Hardstaff – 37,600
Kal Mattu will contest his third consecutive Champion of Champions final having already confirmed his place at the Landywood Snooker Club in May with an unassailable lead at the top.
Joe Hardstaff has contested the last two finals against Mattu, winning on both occasions, but looks set to miss out this time around as he sits 8,400 points behind Ireland’s Daniel Kelly.
Kelly has won four ranking event titles over the two-year period and, should Hardstaff fail to win the title in Hull, then he will compete in the Champion of Champions for the first time.
Group 4
- Carl Gibson (Q) – 68,500
- David Church (Q) – 65,400
A repeat of last year’s Group 4 final at the Champion of Champions is already guaranteed with Carl Gibson and David Church set to renew their rivalry at the Landywood Snooker Club.
The two have been the outstanding performers of the last two years in Group 4, sharing the world number one spot between them and winning a combined 10 WDBS event titles over the two-year period.
Their latest meaning came in the final of the first ever World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand with Gibson winning 3-1 to secure the title.
Group 5
- Dave Bolton (Q) – 100,500
- Dalton Lawrence (Q) – 61,000
Dave Bolton and Dalton Lawrence will meet in a second consecutive Champion of Champions final at the Landywood Snooker Club in May.
Bolton has accumulated more ranking points than any other player on the WDBS Tour with eight ranking event titles in the two-year period helping him to incredibly surpass the 100,000 points mark.
Meanwhile, Lawrence’s impressive consistency has seen him reach regular finals in Group 5 and he holds an advantage of nearly 30,000 points over third-placed Gerdy Dupont meaning he is also guaranteed his place in the Champion of Champions.
Bolton ran out a 6-2 victor at the event 12 months ago and will be helping for a repeat result next month as he aims to defend the Nick Oliver Trophy.
Group 6A
- Mohammed Faisal Butt – 36,100
- Alan Reynolds – 36,000
- Aidan Pollitt – 27,600
- Oscar Ellison Gibbons – 26,000
Mohammed Faisal Butt and Alan Reynolds are strong favourites to contest a third consecutive Champion of Champions final as we head into the final ranking event of the season.
Scotland’s Reynolds has taken home the Nick Oliver Trophy on the last two occasions, defeating Butt 6-0 and 6-4 respectively in 2023 and 2024.
Neither are yet guaranteed of their places, however, with Ireland’s Aidan Pollitt still mathematically able to jump into the top two as he sits 8,400 points behind second place – although he would need the title in Hull coupled with an early exit from at least one of Butt and Reynolds.
Irish Open champion Oscar Ellison Gibbons also technically remains in contention, sitting exactly 10,000 points behind second place meaning the title could result in an unlikely top two finish via the countback rule.
Group 6B
- Matthew Haslam (Q) – 70,500
- Leroy Williams (Q) – 52,400
Matthew Haslam and Leroy Williams will renew their hotly-contested rivalry at the Landywood Snooker Club as they face off in a second successive Champion of Champions final.
Both players are former winners of the event with Haslam stunning Williams, who was world number one at the time, with a 6-0 whitewash victory in Walsall 12 months ago.
Williams will be out for revenge this time around as he looks to deny Haslam back-to-back Champion of Champions victories at the end of a campaign that saw the 20-year-old end the previously unbroken spell of Williams at the summit of the Group 6B world ranking list.
Group 7
- Colvin O’Brien (Q) – 73,300
- Dylan Rees (Q) – 49,300
The Champion of Champions final in Group 7 is already confirmed as the Irish duo of Colvin O’Brien and Dylan Rees will face off in a repeat of the World Disability Snooker Championship final.
Rees ran out a 3-0 victor in that historic contest in Thailand back in March and will be looking for a repeat result to successfully defend the Champion of Champions crown he won against Mike Gillespie last year.
An incredible campaign for O’Brien, who remains the only player to make a century break in a WDBS event, has seen him rise to the summit of the Group 7 world rankings for the first time in his career and he will compete in his first ever Champion of Champions event as a result.
Group 8
- Kristof De Bruyn (Q) – 62,800
- Luke Drennan (Q) – 54,500
Reigning world champion Kristof De Bruyn and multiple ranking event winner Luke Drennan are guaranteed to meet in the Group 8 final in June.
Both players will be making their debut in the prestigious event after the two each had impressive campaigns that saw them take home the World, European and UK titles between them as well as numerous other accolades.
De Bruyn made history in Thailand earlier this year by becoming the maiden World Disability Snooker Championship winner and looks set to reach the summit of the world ranking list for the first time in his career if results go his way in Hull next month.
Entries for the 2025 Hull Open remain open until 9 May. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.
