The Championship League is the first ranking event of the 2023/24 snooker season and the action starts in Leicester on Monday 26th June.

Some of the sport's biggest stars are among the 128 players bidding to make a flying start to the new campaign and Ronnie O'Sullivan is 7/1 to win the Championship League, with Judd Trump 8/1 and Neil Robertson 9/1.

What	Championship League Snooker
Where	Morningside Arena, Leicester
When	Monday 26th June to Friday 21st July
How to watch	bet365's Sports Live Streaming and Viaplay
Odds	Ronnie O'Sullivan 7/1, Judd Trump 8/1, Neil Robertson 9/1, Kyren Wilson 11/1, Mark Williams 12/1

When is the Championship League?

The 2023 Championship League starts on Monday 26th June. Matches in stage one of the tournament will take place in three batches - from 26th to 30th June, 3rd to 8th July and 10th to 14th July.

Stage two fixtures will be played on 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th July, before the tournament concludes on 21st July with the stage-three group matches and the final.

Where is the Championship League?

The 2023 Championship League will be held at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, which also hosted the ranking event in both 2021 and 2022.

Can I watch the Championship League?

Yes. Matches will be shown live on bet365's Sports Live Streaming platform and Viaplay.

What is the format of the Championship League?

In stage one of the Championship League, the 128 competitors are divided into 32 groups of four and matches are played in a round-robin format. Group matches are best of four frames, with three points awarded for a win and one for a draw.

The winners of those 32 sections progress to stage two, which features eight groups of four. The eight players who top the stage-two groups then go into stage three of the Championship League, featuring two sections of four.

The players who finish top of those two groups meet in the final, which is a best-of-five-frames contest.

How many times has the Championship League taken place?

The Championship League ranking event was introduced in September 2020, so the 2023 edition is the fourth time it has taken place.

However, the Championship League non-ranking invitational event, which has a similar format, is a more venerable fixture on the snooker calendar, having been staged every year since 2008, when Joe Perry beat Mark Selby in the inaugural final.

Who has won the Championship League on the most occasions?

The first three runnings of the Championship League ranking event have produced three different champions, with Kyren Wilson beating Judd Trump 3-1 in the 2020 final in Milton Keynes.

David Gilbert saw off Mark Allen in the 2021 final in Leicester and in 2022 Luca Brecel - who went on to win the World Championship in May 2023 - defeated China's Lu Ning.

Brecel and Wilson have also triumphed in the non-ranking event, lifting the trophy in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Scotland's John Higgins has been the dominant force in that tournament, winning four of the last eight titles, while Trump was victorious in 2009, 2014 and 2016.

Who are the favourites for the Championship League?

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is the 7/1 favourite to win the Championship League in 2023, with 8/1 Judd Trump, 9/1 Neil Robertson and 11/1 Kyren Wilson also prominent in the betting.

The vastly experienced Mark Williams is 12/1 and 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy is 12/1, while Stuart Bingham, who beat Murphy in the 2015 World Championship final at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, is 20/1.

Reigning champion Luca Brecel has opted not to defend his Championship League title, with Mark Selby, John Higgins, Mark Allen and Ding Junhui among the other big-name players sitting out the first ranking event of the new season.

David Gilbert, the 2021 Championship League winner, is 28/1 for more glory in Leicester and Joe Perry, who claimed the inaugural non-ranking title in 2008, is a 50/1 shot.