Ali Carter will defend his BetVictor Championship League title against the likes of Shaun Murphy, Si Jiahui, Barry Hawkins, Chris Wakelin, Zhang Anda, Stuart Bingham and Jack Lisowski over the coming weeks in the first ranking event of the 2025/26 season.
CLICK HERE for the group draw
CLICK HERE for the match schedule for the opening week
The action starts on Monday at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester and fans can watch live on Matchroom's YouTube channels or other broadcasters - for full details click here.
The event starts with 128 players, drawn into 32 groups of four, with each group played on a round robin basis. These 32 groups will be played between June 30 and July 17, with two groups contested on each day of action.
The 32 group winners go into the second stage, competing in eight groups of four, running from July 18 to 22. Those eight group winners then contest the final group on July 23, with the top two meeting in the final the same evening. The champion will earn a coveted place in the 2025 Champion of Champions in November.
Carter, who beat Jackson Page in the final last year, has been drawn into a group with Liam Davies, Huang Jiahao and Jack Bradford. Johnstone's Paint Masters champion Murphy will be up against Bulcsu Revesz, Robbie McGuigan and Alfie Burden.
Format
All matches in the group stages will be played over four frames (if a match finishes 3-0, the fourth frame will not be played). The final will be best of five.
In the group stages, players will be awarded three points for a win. One point will be awarded to each player for a drawn match. The group table standings will be determined by the following criteria (in this order):
1) Most points.
2) Net frame difference.
3) Result of match between the two players in question (should three or more players be tied then a mini table will be produced using the criteria above).
4) Highest break in the group.
5) If the highest break is also tied, the next highest break made by the players in question will be used.
Prize money
Stage 1
Winner – £3,000
Runner-up – £2,000
3rd Place – £1,000
Stage 2
Winner – £4,000
Runner-up – £3,000
3rd Place – £2,000
4th Place – £1,000
Stage 3
Winner – £6,000
Runner-up – £4,000
3rd Place – £2,000
4th Place – £1,000
The Final
Winner – £20,000
Runner-up – £10,000
