The draw and format for the 2021 Champion of Champions have been announced today:
Here is the announcement on the event website:
DRAW MADE FOR 2021 CAZOO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS
The draw for the 2021 Cazoo Champion of Champions is complete with 22-time ranking event winner Judd Trump set to open the week against World Senior champion David Lilley on Monday 15, November live on ITV4 and broadcasters worldwide from the Bolton Whites Hotel, University of Bolton Stadium.
Monday’s curtain-raisers will also see Stephen Maguire take on Snooker Shoot-Out winner Ryan Day whilst two-time Champion of Champions winner Neil Robertson will meet British Open champion Mark Williams on Tuesday.
World Champion Mark Selby takes on David Gilbert on Wednesday before World Championship runner-up Shaun Murphy meets Masters champion Yan Bingtao. Previous Cazoo Champion of Champions winner Ronnie O’Sullivan begins his bid for a historic fourth title against Stuart Bingham on Thursday.
The Cazoo Champion of Champions begins with four player groups with one group played each from Monday until Thursday. The afternoon sessions feature two best-of-seven Group Semi-Finals before a best-of-11 Group Final in the evening session. The winner at the end of the week will walk away with £150,000 with £440,000 set to be paid out across the week.
Players were split into two seeding pools based on the WST World Ranking after the Northern Ireland Open. The top eight players were placed into groups based on their seeding; seed 1 Judd Trump and seed 8 Stephen Maguire are in Group 1. World Champion Selby will be in Group 2 with No.7 seed Shaun Murphy, World No.3 O’Sullivan joins John Higgins in Group 3 while Neil Robertson and Kyren Wilson are in Group 4. The remaining eight seeds were drawn at random to face one of the eight seeded players in the group semi-finals.
Draw and Match Schedule
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15 | Group 1
1 pm – Group Semi-Finals (Best of 7)
Judd Trump vs David Lilley
Stephen Maguire vs Ryan Day
7 pm – Group Final (Best of 11)
Winner vs Winner
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 | Group 4
1 pm – Group Semi-Finals (Best of 7)
Neil Robertson vs Mark Williams
Kyren Wilson vs Jordan Brown
7 pm – Group Final (Best of 11)
Winner vs Winner
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17 | Group 2
1 pm – Group Semi-Finals (Best of 7)
Mark Selby vs David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy vs Yan Bingtao
7 pm – Group Final (Best of 11)
Winner vs Winner
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18 | Group 3
1 pm – Group Semi-Finals (Best of 7)
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Stuart Bingham
John Higgins vs Ding Junhui
7 pm – Group Final (Best of 11)
Winner vs Winner
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19
7pm | Semi-Final 1 (best of 11)
Group 1 Winner v Group 4 WinnerSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20
7pm | Semi-Final 1 (best of 11)
Group 2 Winner v Group 3 WinnerSUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21
The Final (Best of 19)
It’s fair to say that Judd Trump finds himself in the weakest group. Even if he’s not been at his best for some time, on current form I can’t see any of the three others giving him much of a challenge… but you never know…
All three other groups are interesting.
This are my predictions for the QFs stage
Judd Trump v Stephen Maguire
Mark Selby v Shaun Murphy
Ronnie O’Sullivan v John Higgins
Neil Robertson v Kyren Wilson
I’m glad to see Mark Williams in the draw but I don’t expect too much from him as covid seems to have hit him quite hard.
The reason why I believe that Shaun Murphy will prevail over Yan Bingtao is because the last 16 matches are short matches (best of 7).
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
These would be my picks:
Trump- Lilley 6:2
Maguire- Day 4:6
Selby – Gilbert 6:4
Murphy- Bingtao 6:3
O’Sullivan- Bingham 6:3
Higgins-Ding 4:6
Robertson-Williams 6:3
Wilson- Brown 6:1
best of 7……
Oh I see, thanks…
Trump 4:0
Day 4:3
Selby 4:2
Murphy 4:2
Ronnie 4:1
Ding 4:2
Neil 4:1
Wilson 4:0
OMG. Im a snooker fan, but not AGAIN Ronnie vs John, not even a week later. Over the same distance as well.
I mean what do they want to talk about in the studio other than chalk, honestly???
Correction: CoC starts next week not this week, so its more than a week later but that doesnt change my opinion.
The tinpot terminator Judd Trump with the easiest draw. He needs something similar at the Triple Crown events as well. Maybe then he will finally win some of them.
Nickname icons…Yee!
It is quite striking and, in some ways unlucky, how Ronnie and John seem to end up in the same group every year since 2017 (apart from last year)… Of course this does not mean they will meet again this time, given how John lost those last finals and reactedt to the last one… But as a fan you would really like the two not to meet this early in a tournament as prestigious as this…