Champion of Champions Snooker 2021 | Day One Preview and Order of Play

Jonathan Davies in Champion of Champions 15 November 2021

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Judd Trump gets his Crucible campaign under way (Photo by George Wood/PA Images)

Judd Trump begins his latest quest for Champion of Champions glory against David Lilley on the opening day of the 2021 event in Bolton.

The ninth edition of the popular invitational tournament gets underway at the Bolton Whites Hotel on Monday.

World number two Trump headlines the action as Group One takes centre stage.

The Ace has been an ever-present since the tournament began eight years ago; reaching the final in 2014 and 2019.

However, the 24-time ranking event winner is still yet to get his hands on this trophy; going closest when he narrowly lost 10-9 to Neil Robertson two years ago.

The Bristolian arrives in Bolton off the back of reaching consecutive quarter-finals at the Northern Ireland Open and English Open, and will be targeting a strong run this week to build momentum leading into an important stage of the season with the UK Championship, World Grand Prix and Masters also on the horizon.

The first obstacle he must overcome here is World Seniors champion Lilley, who triumphed at the Crucible in May.

The 46-year-old, who defeated Ken Doherty along the way before seeing off Jimmy White in the final, will be considered a heavy underdog, but knows what it takes to spring a surprise.

Indeed, he also beat former World champion Mark Williams en route to reaching the Indian Open quarter-finals as an amateur in 2016.

Elsewhere in Group One, Stephen Maguire faces Ryan Day in a repeat of the 2017 Riga Masters final, which the Welshman won 5-2 to capture his maiden ranking title.

World number eight Maguire is one of four non-tournament winners at this year’s event; qualifying as one of the highest-ranked players to not get his hands on silverware over the past 12 months.

Nevertheless, this will be the Scotsman’s sixth appearance and he is aiming to progress beyond the group final for the first time.

Meanwhile, Shootout winner Day is back for a third stint in the tournament – and first since 2018.

The world number 23 has endured a mixed start to the season. Despite reaching the final day of the Championship League at the start of the season, he has since suffered first-round exits at the British Open and English Open.

Play gets underway at 1pm GMT on Monday with both group semi-finals contested over the best of seven frames at the Bolton Whites Hotel.

The winners will advance to the group final, which begins at 7pm with the best of 11 frames determining who will progress to the semi-finals of the tournament.

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