Champion of Champions 2026 | Tournament Preview
The sixth staging of the Champion of Champions takes place on Saturday 11 July at the Landywood Snooker Club with cueists competing for the prestigious Nick Oliver Trophy across eight classification groups.
The annual season finale 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 fourth consecutive year, the the Landywood Snooker Club plays host to the Champion of Champions and you can follow all the action via WPBSA SnookerScores.
Group 1+2
- Dave Beaumont vs. Tony Southern
History will be made in the wheelchair classification group as Dave Beaumont and Tony Southern each aim to become the first Group 1+2 player to win the Nick Oliver Trophy on more than one occasion.
Each player has won two ranking event titles during the 2025/26 campaign to maintain their top two position and set up a repeat of last year’s title match, when Beaumont whitewashed defending champion Southern to win the prestigious event on debut.
Group 3
- Peter Hull vs. Daniel Kelly
Peter Hull is aiming to complete the most memorable season of his career with a debut victory at the Champion of Champions.
Brilliance in Bruges saw Hull defend the Belgian Open title and, a few weeks later, he rose to world number one in Group 3 for the first time – travelling to his maiden World Championship in June as the top ranked player in his classification.
Standing in his way will be Ireland’s Daniel Kelly, who is the defending champion and aiming to maintain a 100% record at the Landywood Snooker Club after defeating three-time runner-up Kal Mattu 6-0 in last year’s final.
Group 4
- Carl Gibson vs. David Church
Carl Gibson and David Church meet in the Champion of Champions for a third consecutive year as Gibson aims to make it a hat-trick of victories at the Landywood Snooker Club.
The Hull cueist is the current world number one in Group 4 and has defeated Church 6-4 and 6-2 in the previous two editions.
Church, a five-time WDBS event winner, won the inaugural staging of the Champion of Champions in 2018 and will be looking to lift the Nick Oliver Trophy once again on Saturday.
Group 5
- Dave Bolton vs. Dalton Lawrence
Dave Bolton arrives in Staffordshire on Saturday aiming for a third successive Champion of Champions title against Dalton Lawrence.
The top two ranked players in Group 5 have met in the previous two Nick Oliver Trophy title matches, with runaway world number one Bolton earning 6-2 and 6-0 victories.
Incredibly, in their 24 previous meetings, Bolton has won all but one of them and arrives at the Landywood Snooker Club as a strong favourite, Having won four titles during the 2025/26 season to bring his career tally to 16, a further victory over Lawrence on Saturday would see him move within one of overall record-holder Daniel Blunn.
Group 6A
- Mohammed Faisal Butt vs. Aidan Pollitt
Mohammed Faisal Butt is looking to defend the Champion of Champions title against event debutant Aidan Pollitt from Ireland.
The previous three finals in Group 6A have seen Butt face Scotland’s Alan Reynolds, with Butt finally getting the better of his opponent at the third attempt in 2025.
Pollitt has ended the streak of meetings courtesy of a strong campaign that saw him reach consecutive ranking event finals in Bruges and Hull – having never previously reached that stage away from home soil.
Group 6B
- Matthew Haslam vs. Leroy Williams
No pair of finalists at this year’s Champion of Champions will be more familiar with each other than Matthew Haslam and Leroy Williams as they meet in a fourth contest for the Nick Oliver Trophy.
Haslam holds the advantage, having won the last two final meetings in 2024 and 2025 and also boasts an 11-10 lead in the overall head-to-head record. The 21-year-old will arrive at the Landywood Snooker Club with the goal of securing a hat-trick of titles.
Williams also has two titles to his name, lifting the trophy in 2023 and 2019, and will be hoping to add to current tally of 15 WDBS titles.
Group 7
- Colvin O’Brien vs. Dylan Rees
An all-Irish meeting between Colvin O’Brien and Dylan Rees takes place in Group 7 for a second successive year.
The absence of world number two Mike Gillespie, who has not entered the event, means there is a reprieve for defending champion Rees as he aims to win a third successive title.
As well as beating O’Brien 6-4 in last year’s Champion of Champions, Rees has also been the victor in their consecutive World Championship final contests – but it is O’Brien who arrives at the Landywood Snooker Club as the world number one as he looks for a maiden Nick Oliver Trophy success.
Group 8
- Lewis Knowles vs. Luke Drennan
Defending champion Luke Drennan faces two-time winner Lewis Knowles in the final of the Group 8 classification.
Drennan defeated former world champion Kristof De Bruyn last year to win the title on debut at the Landywood Snooker Club.
This year he faces Knowles, who has returned to the summit of the world rankings and will be competing in his fifth Nick Oliver Trophy title match after a one-year absence – having previously won the event in 2018 and 2023.
Follow the action via WPBSA SnookerScores on Saturday 11 July
