The Champion of Champions 2018 Draw and Format for the first two days has been published today.
Draw For First Two Days Of ManBetX Champion Of Champions Confirmed
The draw for the first two days of the ManBetX Champion of Champions has been made, with defending champion Shaun Murphy to open his defence in Group 1 against Jimmy Robertson on Monday, November 5.
The 16 player field is split into eight seeded players and eight unseeded players. The eight seeded players are headed by defending champion Shaun Murphy followed by the next seven players on the current World Ranking List.
The eight unseeded players were drawn at random to play a seeded player, with the first two days now scheduled. Due to the International Championship concluding in Daqing on Sunday evening less than 24 hours before the ManBetX Champion of Champions begins, the draw and schedule for the remaining two days of group play will be completed later in the week once the availability of more players is known.
Monday, November 5
Group 1
Shaun Murphy (1) vs. Jimmy Robertson
Ding Junhui (8) vs. Michael GeorgiouTuesday, November 6
Group 4
Ronnie O’Sullivan (4) vs. Stuart Bingham
John Higgins (5) vs. Ryan DayThe ManBetX Champion of Champions features World Snooker tournament winners from the previous 12 months, including World Champion Mark Williams, UK Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy, who will defend the title he won last November.
The tournament begins with four groups, each featuring a semi-final and final on the same day with the group winners progressing to the tournament semi-finals on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th November. Sunday’s final will be played over 19 frames with the winner taking home £100,000.
Tickets for the ManBetX Champion of Champions start from just £11 with premium and VIP hospitality packages also available at http://www.championofchampionssnooker.co.uk.
It’s fair to say that Ronnie is facing a very tough challenge from the start…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Ronnie’s side of the draw does look tough, until you consider that the 8 players on the other side include Selby, Williams, Allen, N. Robertson, Wilson, Trump, and Hawkins.
J. Robertson and Georgiou are clearly the weakest players in the field (so far) and are both on Ronnie’s side, though he wouldn’t play either until the semi-finals. Ronnie’s initial group of 4 is certainly tough…
Quite possibly the most difficult match for Ronnie is the first one, although in this format anything is possible.