The 2026/27 snooker season continues this week with the 2026 Worldwide Championship going down in Nanjing, China.
The match is the eighth rating occasion of the marketing campaign, with gamers competing for one of many greatest prizes on the World Snooker Tour.
Wu Yize is the defending champion after claiming his maiden title right here final 12 months, and the Chinese language star returns to a discipline that features world primary Zhao Xintong and a number of other former winners.
The occasion additionally marks the ultimate alternative for gamers to affect the seeding for the upcoming UK Championship, with the race for automated qualification in York finely poised.
When is the 2026 Worldwide Championship?
The 2026 Worldwide Championship runs from Saturday, October thirty first to Saturday, November seventh in Nanjing, China.
Matches from the final 64 by way of to the quarter-finals are contested over the most effective of 11 frames, with the semi-finals rising to 17 frames and the ultimate performed over the most effective of 19.
2026 Worldwide Championship prize cash
Winner: £175,000
Runner-up: £75,000
Semi-finals: £33,000
Quarter-finals: £22,000
Final 16: £14,000
Final 32: £9,000
Final 64: £5,000
Highest break: £5,000
Complete: £825,000
Former champions
The Worldwide Championship has produced a number of a number of winners since its introduction in 2012, with Ding Junhui, Mark Selby, and Judd Trump every having lifted the trophy twice.
Ricky Walden, John Higgins, Mark Allen, and Zhang Anda are the opposite former champions, whereas Wu Yize claimed the Worldwide Championship title final 12 months.
Wu returns to Nanjing seeking to defend that success, however he can even have one eye on the world rankings as he continues his battle with compatriot Zhao Xintong for the primary place.
Who’s within the draw?
A qualifying stage was held in September on the Mattioli Area in Leicester, with a lot of the last-64 lineup decided earlier than the match’s arrival in China.
A number of matches from the spherical of 128 have been held over to the principle occasion, nonetheless, together with these involving defending champion Wu, Zhao, and two-time former winners Ding Junhui and Trump.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen are absent after each withdrew earlier than qualifying, whereas Xiao Guodong, Jack Lisowski, and Ali Carter have been among the many notable names to lose within the preliminary spherical.
There are a number of eye-catching ties within the final 64, together with Selby in opposition to veteran Jimmy White, current Northern Eire Open champion Kyren Wilson in opposition to Liam Highfield, and Jak Jones going through rising younger expertise Wang Xinbo.
The held-over matches can even decide the opening opponents for a number of of the main contenders, with Wu going through Hammad Miah, Zhao taking up Ian Burns, and Ding assembly Sahil Nayyar.
Replace: Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins, and Luca Brecel every withdrew on the eve of the occasion, citing medical causes.
The race for the UK Championship
The Worldwide Championship is the ultimate occasion earlier than the seeding cut-off for the UK Championship, with the highest 16 on the earth rankings after the match incomes automated locations in York.
The battle for these positions is especially shut, with lower than £30,000 separating Jak Jones in provisional sixteenth place and Zhang Anda in twenty first.
Ding Junhui faces a big problem to retain his place among the many elite, in the meantime.
The Chinese language star’s rating factors from his 2024 Worldwide Championship victory are as a result of come off his rolling two-year tally, that means he dangers dropping exterior the highest 16 if he can’t change them.
English Open champion Ali Carter is provisionally fifteenth and has a comparatively wholesome cushion over the gamers behind him.
Nevertheless, having didn’t qualify for the Worldwide Championship, he should wait to find whether or not his present place can be sufficient to safe automated entry.
The battle for world primary
The race for the highest spot on the earth rankings provides one other layer of intrigue to the match.
Zhao Xintong at the moment leads the rankings however is within the midst of a poor run of type having misplaced 4 matches in a row on the principle tour.
World champion Wu Yize has a chance to shut the hole and probably overtake his compatriot by reaching the latter phases in Nanjing.
With each gamers concerned in held-over matches from the qualifying spherical, their progress can be intently watched because the match will get underneath approach.
2026 Worldwide Championship draw
Spherical of 64 (bo11)
Wu Yize/Hammad Miah vs Robbie Williams (Solar 1 Nov, 11:30)
Stephen Maguire vs Jackson Web page/Michal Szubarczyk/Chen Qi’en (Solar 1 Nov, 06:00)
Ding Junhui/Sahil Nayyar vs Gao Yang (Solar 1 Nov, 06:00)
Zhang Anda vs Huang Jiahao (Solar 1 Nov, 01:30)
Ben Woollaston vs Yao Pengcheng (Sat 31 Oct, 06:00)
Oliver Strains vs Dylan Emery (Solar 1 Nov, 01:30)
Ryan Day vs Lei Peifan (Sat 31 Oct, 06:00)
Liam Highfield vs Kyren Wilson (Solar 1 Nov, 06:00)
Judd Trump/Liu Wenwei/Dong Zihao vs Fan Zhengyi/Steve Hallworth/Li Jun (Solar 1 Nov, 06:00)
Pang Junxu/Wang Xinzhong vs Mina Awad (Solar 1 Nov, 11:30)
Ricky Walden w/o Barry Hawkins
Zhou Yuelong vs Liam Davies (Sat 31 Oct, 01:30)
David Grace vs Si Jiahui (Sat 31 Oct, 11:30)
Liu Hongyu vs Louis Heathcote (Sat 31 Oct, 01:30)
Stuart Carrington vs Hossein Vafaei (Sat 31 Oct, 06:00)
Jimmy White vs Mark Selby (Sat 31 Oct, 01:30)
Neil Robertson vs Jiang Jun (Sat 31 Oct, 06:00)
Jak Jones vs Wang Xinbo (Sat 31 Oct, 11:30)
Ashley Carty vs Julien Leclercq (Solar 1 Nov, 01:30)
Stuart Bingham vs Marco Fu (Solar 1 Nov, 01:30)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh w/o Luca Brecel
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Mark J Williams (Solar 1 Nov, 01:30)
Xu Si vs Gary Wilson (Solar 1 Nov, 11:30)
Lyu Haotian vs John Higgins (Solar 1 Nov, 01:30)
Mitchell Mann w/o Shaun Murphy
Joe O’Connor vs Yuan Sijun (Solar 1 Nov, 06:00)
Chris Wakelin vs Lengthy Zehuang (Solar 1 Nov, 11:30)
Chang Bingyu vs Ross Muir (Solar 1 Nov, 01:30)
Aaron Hill vs Anton Kazakov (Solar 1 Nov, 06:00)
Daniel Wells vs Duane Jones (a) (Solar 1 Nov, 11:30)
Stan Moody vs Sam Craigie (Solar 1 Nov, 11:30)
David Lilley vs Zhao Xintong/Ian Burns (Solar 1 Nov, 11:30)
How one can watch the 2026 Worldwide Championship
There are a number of choices obtainable to observe the Worldwide Championship stay, relying in your location.
UK and Eire
TNT Sports activities and HBO Max
Mainland Europe + Chosen International locations
Eurosport and HBO Max
China
CCTV5
Huya.com
Migu
CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel
CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
Hong Kong China
Now Sports activities
Malaysia
Astro Supersport
Taiwan
Sportcast
Thailand
True Sport
Mongolia
N Sport
All different territories
WST Play
Featured photograph credit score: WST
