There were eight players who competed in the event: seven were major tournament winners from the 1999–2000 season and one was a wild card entry.

In the semi-finals, O'Sullivan defeated the reigning holder of the Champions Cup trophy Stephen Hendry 5–2 and Williams beat John Higgins 5–2.

O'Sullivan made the highest break of the tournament of 140 in his match against wild card entrant Jimmy White.

[1] A total of seven players who won major tournaments in the 1999–2000 season and one wild card selected by ITV competed in the Champions Cup.

[8] Mark Williams, the world champion who was recovering from a left thumb injury after being bitten several times by his pet rottweiler at his Cwm home,[9] played the tournament's first match against Ken Doherty from Ireland.

Lee went level at 4–4 to force a final fame decider that Hendry won with a break of 53.

[16][17] O'Sullivan took 79 minutes to defeat wild card entrant Jimmy White 5–2 to give himself an opportunity to qualify for the semi-finals.

After the match, Higgins spoke of his unhappiness over his form and him having half an inch added to his cue to rectify this.

O'Sullivan was unchallenged in the seventh frame and won the match 5–2 to guarantee himself a semi-finals berth.

White conceded to the media shortly after his defeat that his chance of winning the tournament was non-existent after vowing in the days prior to its commencement to be its next champion.

Leading 4–2, it appeared that Williams would win the match easily by getting a snookered brown ball in the seventh frame.

Higgins made a break of 110 to force a final frame decider that Williams won 5–4 with a game-victory clearance of 31 to continue his unbeaten run in the tournament.

[24] Williams said after the match, "A few years ago John used to beat me on a regular basis but gradually I've been getting the upper hand.

[27] Post-match, Hendry complimented O'Sullivan, "I missed a couple of balls but I thought Ronnie played very well.

Williams was ill with overnight food poisoning but began by taking the first two frames with breaks of 67 and 77 as O'Sullivan did not pot a ball during this period.

[28] When play resumed after the interval, O'Sullivan compiled breaks of 51, 78 and 95 to secure the following two frames as Williams did not hit a single ball.

In frame 11, Williams made a break of 27 but missed a red ball down the side cushion while using the rest.

[2] Post-match, O'Sullivan spoke of his emotions over his success which he dedicated to those who helped him during his recovery process,[28][2] "I have been through a lot of stuff in the last couple of months.

He was asked to meet the WPBSA disciplinary committee at the governing body's headquarters in Bristol on 14 November to establish whether he had violated its rules on drugs taking.

[33] The inquiry accepted that Lee did not use marijuana to better his performance and instructed him to relinquish £7,500 prize money and pay £1,000 costs.