Players Series
Snooker series of tournaments
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Players Series is a series of ranking bonus tournaments organised by the World Snooker Tour for players who have earned the most money in professional snooker tournaments within the season.[1] Unlike traditional ranking events, qualification is based on results from the single-season list, rather than by world rankings.[2]
Telford
Manchester
Hong Kong
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kowloon City Telford Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom Hong Kong |
| Established | 2019 |
| Organisation(s) | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | 3 ranking events |
| Total prize fund | £700,000 (World Grand Prix) £500,000 (Players & Tour Champ) |
| Winner's share | £180,000 (World Grand Prix) £150,000 (Players & Tour Champ) |
| Recent edition | 2025–26 |
| Final champion |  Zhao Xintong (CHN) |
First established in 2019, the series includes the pre-existing World Grand Prix and Players Championship with the addition of the Tour Championship; the number of competitors for each event decreases, with 32 players participating in the Grand Prix, 16 in the Players and 12 in the Tour Championship.[3] Zhao Xintong is the current series champion, being the first player to win all three tournaments within the same season.[4]
Overview
Upon the establishment of the series, it was initially sponsored by the betting firm Coral and was called the Coral Cup, with the World Grand Prix and Players Championship held in England and the Tour Championship in Wales. In the 2019–2020 season, the player who earned the most prize money across all three events in the series was awarded a prize fund of £100,000 and the "Coral Cup" trophy. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Coral ceasing its involvement in sponsoring snooker events, the bonus was discontinued.[5] The only winner of the additional monetary bonus was Stephen Maguire, with most of the earnings coming from the Tour Championship.
From the 2021–22 season, players who lost in the first round of any of the series events received ranking points equal to their prize money. This was a change from previous incarnations where losing in the first round gave prize money only and no ranking points. However, should a player qualify for one of the events in the series, but does not play their opening match, the player receives neither prize money nor ranking points.[6][7]
In the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, it was sponsored by Cazoo and named the Cazoo Series.[8] However, the sponsorship was abruptly stopped as a result of its own financial issues that led it to pull out from a number of sports sponsorship deals, including snooker. In the 2022–23 season, it was sponsored by crypto casino Duelbits as the Duelbits Series;[9] it was only announced on the day of the 2023 World Grand Prix commencing. It is also the first time all tournaments in the series were played in England with the Tour Championship leaving Wales (bar the 2020 edition behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Beginning with the 2024–25 season, the World Grand Prix was played in Hong Kong in an effort to expand the series overseas.[10]
| Season | Series winner | Aggregate Winnings | Bonus prize | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19 |  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) | £280,000 | [11][12][13] | |
| 2019–20 |  Stephen Maguire (SCO) |
£185,000 | £100,000 | [14][15][16] |
| 2020–21 |  Neil Robertson (AUS) | £170,000 | [17][18][19] | |
| 2021–22 | Neil Robertson (AUS) |
£315,000 | [20][21][22] | |
| 2022–23 | Shaun Murphy (ENG) | £295,000 | [23][24][25] | |
| 2023–24 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) | £265,000 | [26][27][28] | |
| 2024–25 | Neil Robertson (AUS) |
£230,000 | [29][30][31] | |
| 2025–26 | Zhao Xintong (CHN) |
£480,000 |
Event winners
Statistics
Tournament wins
| Player | Total | World Grand Prix |
Players Championship |
Tour Championship |
Winning span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Robertson |
5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2020–2025 |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2019–2024 |
| Zhao Xintong |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Judd Trump |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2019–2020 |
| Shaun Murphy |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
 Mark Allen |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2023–2024 |
| John Higgins |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2021–2025 |
| Stephen Maguire |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2020 |
 Mark Williams |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kyren Wilson |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2025 |
| Total events | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2019–2026 |