Champion of Champions 2025 | Tournament Preview
The fifth staging of the Champion of Champions takes place on Saturday (14 June) at the Landywood Snooker Club with cueists competing for the prestigious Nick Oliver Trophy across eight classification groups.
The annual season-closing event sees the top two ranked players from each group going head-to-head in a best-of-11 frame contest for the title. For the third year in a row, the Champion of Champions takes place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall and you can follow all the action via WPBSA SnookerScores.
Group 1-2: Dave Beaumont vs. Tony Southern
Tony Southern aims to become the first wheelchair cueist to defend the Champion of Champions crown as he takes on tournament debutant Dave Beaumont at the Landywood Snooker Club.
The 56-year-old from England won the prestigious title for the first time 12 months ago, defeating Gary Swift 6-4 after previously losing out in the final in both 2018 and 2023.
No player in Group 1-2 has ever won the Nick Oliver Trophy on multiple occasions and England’s Beaumont will be hoping this trend continues as he makes his debut after an incredible campaign that saw him rise to the summit of the world ranking list by reaching the final of the 2025 World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand earlier this year.
Group 3: Kal Mattu vs. Daniel Kelly
A new winner of the Nick Oliver Trophy is guaranteed in the ambulant Group 3 classification as Kal Mattu and Daniel Kelly compete for the title in Walsall.
Kelly, from Ireland, secured his debut at the prestigious season-finale by winning the concluding ranking event of the season in Hull to move up to second place in the world rankings and deny back-to-back reigning champion Joe Hardstaff a chance to defend his crown.
The five-time ranking event winner faces two-time Champion of Champions runner-up and current world number one Mattu, who is looking to bounce back from losing out in a deciding frame at the Landywood Snooker Club last year.
Group 4: Carl Gibson vs. David Church
Carl Gibson and David Church meet in the season-finale for a second successive year with Church aiming to avenge a 6-4 loss 12 months ago.
Gibson and Church have each claimed the Champion of Champions crown on one previous occasion, with Church lifting the title at the maiden staging in 2018 while Gibson is the defending champion.
The two players have shared the world number one spot between them during the campaign and the contest is a repeat of the Group 4 final at the 2025 World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand, which was won by Gibson to make history as the first ever world champion in the classification group.
Group 5: Dave Bolton vs. Dalton Lawrence
For the second year in a row, Dave Bolton and Dalton Lawrence will meet in the Champion of Champions at the Landywood Snooker Club.
The two players each made their debut at the prestigious event in 2024 and it was England’s Bolton who took home the title with a 6-2 victory over his fellow countryman.
Since making his debut on the tour in 2023, Bolton has seen a remarkable rise to the top by earning more ranking points than any other player during the two-year period and picking up 11 WDBS titles.
Seven of those final victories have been against the former Irish Open and British Open champion Lawrence, who will be out for revenge this weekend in Walsall.
Group 6A: Alan Reynolds vs. Mohammed Faisal Butt
The two most successful player in the history of the Group 6A classification will meet in the Champion of Champions for a third consecutive year.
Current world number one Alan Reynolds, from Scotland, is aiming to win the Nick Oliver Trophy for the third year in a row after defeating Mohammed Faisal Butt in both 2023 and 2024.
Eight-time WDBS event winner Butt will contest his fourth Champion of Champions final but remains in search of his first success, having lost to Michael Busst in 2019 before suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of Reynolds.
Group 6B: Matthew Haslam vs. Leroy Williams
Matthew Haslam and Leroy Williams meet in the Champion of Champions for the third time after trading victories between them in 2023 and 2024.
England’s Haslam is the defending champion after completing a stunning whitewash victory over Williams at the Landywood Snooker Club 12 months ago.
Williams, meanwhile, is a two-time winner of the Nick Oliver Trophy, defeating Peter Geronimo 8-4 in 2019 before overcoming Haslam 6-4 in 2023.
The rivalry between Haslam and Williams is one of the most exciting on the WDBS Tour, with Haslam ending the previously unbroken spell of Williams at the top of the Group 6B world ranking list earlier this year and this latest meeting is set to be another enthralling chapter between the two cueists.
Group 7: Colvin O’Brien vs. Dylan Rees
Colvin O’Brien and Dylan Rees meet in an all-Irish Champion of Champions contest in the visual Group 7 classification.
Rees is aiming to defend the title which he won for the first time in his career last year by defeating Mike Gillespie 6-2 at the Landywood Snooker Club.
He faces Champion of Champions debutant O’Brien, who made history at the 2023 British Open by becoming the first player to compile a century break in a WDBS event.
The match is also a repeat of the final of the 2025 World Disability Snooker Championship which was won by Rees as he became the first ever WDBS world champion from Ireland.
Group 8: Kristof De Bruyn vs. Luke Drennan
Two Champion of Champions debutants go head-to-head in the deaf Group 8 classification at the Landywood Snooker Club.
Kristof De Bruyn has made history for Belgium this year by becoming both the first World Disability Snooker champion and WDBS world number one to hail from the nation.
Just 200 ranking points separate De Bruyn and England’s Luke Drennan in the world ranking list and the 26-year-old Englishman will be looking to round off a memorable campaign of his own, which has seen him win titles in Portugal, Belgium and England, by getting his hands on the Nick Oliver Trophy for the first time.
