2021 Players Championship (snooker)

The 2021 Players Championship (officially the 2021 Cazoo Players Championship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that took place from 22 to 28 February 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.[1][2] It was the 11th ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season.

2021 Cazoo Players Championship
Tournament information
Dates22–28 February 2021 (2021-02-22 – 2021-02-28)
VenueMarshall Arena
CityMilton Keynes
CountryEngland
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£385,000
Winner's share£125,000
Highest break Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (144)
Final
Champion John Higgins (SCO)
Runner-up Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Score10–3
2020
2022

Judd Trump was the defending champion, having defeated Yan Bingtao 10–4 in the 2020 final.[3] However, Trump lost 6–5 in the first round to Stuart Bingham.

The final was contested between John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan, their first meeting in a ranking final since the 2005 Grand Prix, with Higgins winning 10–3.[4] It was the 31st ranking title of Higgins's career, his first in three years, and he lost only four frames on his way to the title. This was O'Sullivan's 57th ranking final, equalling Stephen Hendry's record. There was a total of 30 century breaks made during the tournament, the highest of which was a 144 made by O'Sullivan in the final.[5]

Prize fund

edit

The breakdown of prize money for the 2021 tournament is shown below:[2]

  • Winner: £125,000
  • Runner-up: £50,000
  • Semi-final: £30,000
  • Quarter-final: £15,000
  • Last 16: £10,000 (Prize money received at this stage will not count towards prize money rankings)
  • Highest break: £10,000
  • Total: £385,000

Seeding list

edit

The seedings were conducted on the basis of the one-year ranking list up to and including the 2021 Welsh Open.[6]

Seed Player Total points
1   Judd Trump (ENG) 454,500
2   Mark Selby (ENG) 255,500
3   Neil Robertson (AUS) 246,000
4   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 123,500
5   Jack Lisowski (ENG) 117,000
6   Kyren Wilson (ENG) 112,000
7   Jordan Brown (NIR) 100,000
8   Zhou Yuelong (CHN) 83,500
9   Barry Hawkins (ENG) 80,500
10   John Higgins (SCO) 74,500
11   Ryan Day (WAL) 73,000
12   Martin Gould (ENG) 66,000
13   Ding Junhui (CHN) 65,500
14   Lu Ning (CHN) 59,500
15   Mark Williams (WAL) 53,500
16   Stuart Bingham (ENG) 53,000

Tournament draw

edit
Last 16
Best of 11 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
Final
Best of 19 frames
            
1   Judd Trump (ENG) 5
16   Stuart Bingham (ENG) 6
16   Stuart Bingham 2
9   Barry Hawkins 6
8   Zhou Yuelong (CHN) 5
9   Barry Hawkins (ENG) 6
9   Barry Hawkins 4
4   Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
5   Jack Lisowski (ENG) 6
12   Martin Gould (ENG) 3
5   Jack Lisowski 1
4   Ronnie O'Sullivan 6
4   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 6
13   Ding Junhui (CHN) 5
4   Ronnie O'Sullivan 3
10   John Higgins 10
3   Neil Robertson (AUS) 6
14   Lu Ning (CHN) 1
3   Neil Robertson 2
6   Kyren Wilson 6
6   Kyren Wilson (ENG) 6
11   Ryan Day (WAL) 1
6   Kyren Wilson 1
10   John Higgins 6
7   Jordan Brown (NIR) 0
10   John Higgins (SCO) 6
10   John Higgins 6
2   Mark Selby 0
2   Mark Selby (ENG) 6
15   Mark Williams (WAL) 4

Final

edit
Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Leo Scullion
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England, 28 February 2021
Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)
  England
3–10 John Higgins (10)
  Scotland
Afternoon: 18–64, 0–103, 21–69, 0–142 (142), 0–138 (138), 87–26, 40–70, 148–0 (144)
Evening: 4–67, 110–0 (110), 0–70, 0–77, 4–127 (127)
144 Highest break 142
2 Century breaks 3

Century breaks

edit

Total: 30[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Calendar 2020/2021 | Feb". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Cazoo Players Championship". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Trump beats Yan Bingtao to win Players Championship". BBC Sport. 1 March 2020.
  4. ^ "John Higgins ends 'best week' by thrashing Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-3 in Players Championship final". BBC. 28 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Cazoo Players Championship 2021 | Centuries". World Snooker. 22–28 February 2021. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  6. ^ "1 Year List 2020/21". World Snooker.[permanent dead link]
edit