World Snooker Championship 2026: Results, schedule and how to watch every match

Ronnie O’Sullivan, Zhao Xintong, Judd Trump and more are battling to lift the trophy at Sheffield’s iconic Crucible Theatre
The 2026 World Snooker Championship has arrived, with the 17-day marathon at the Crucible Theatre set to provide the usual array of sporting drama as the best players on the planet vie to lift the famous trophy.

Zhao Xintong heads to Sheffield as defending champion after making history as the first Chinese winner of the tournament 12 months ago and he is the bookies’ favourite to retain his crown, although he will have to break the legendary ‘Crucible Curse’ to do so – with no first-time winner having successfully defended the title.

He got off to a decent start by beating Liam Highfield 10-7 in the first round.

Plenty of other contenders will fancy their chances of stopping Zhao, including Ronnie O’Sullivan , who has found some form in recent weeks and begins his quest for a record eighth world title against Crucible debutant He Guoqiang.

Four-time winners Mark Selby and John Higgins face former finalists Jak Jones and Ali Carter respectively in round one, while world No 1 Judd Trump has a tough opener against Gary Wilson, 2024 champion Kyren Wilson squares off against teenage wonderkid Stan Moody and a rejuvenated Neil Robertson takes on Pang Junxu.

Here’s everything you need to know:
How to watch the World Snooker Championship
World Snooker Championship results
Zhao Xintong (1) 10-7 Liam Highfield
Mark Allen (14) 10-6 Zhang Anda
Barry Hawkins (11) 10-4 Matthew Stevens
Xiao Guodong (9) 10-6 Zhou Yuelong
Mark Williams (6) 10-4 Antoni Kowalski
World Snooker Championship schedule in full
Ding Junhui (16) 7-2 David Gilbert*
John Higgins (5) 4-5 Ali Carter*
Shaun Murphy (8) vs Fan Zhengyi
Kyren Wilson (3) vs Stan Moody*
Chris Wakelin (13) vs Liam Pullen
Ronnie O’Sullivan (12) vs He Guoqiang
Si Jiahui (15) vs Hossein Vafaei
Neil Robertson (4) vs Pang Junxu
Xiao Guodong vs Shaun Murphy/Fan Zhengyi
Kyren Wilson/Stan Moody vs Mark Allen
Zhao Xintong vs Ding Junhui/David Gilbert
Kyren Wilson/Stan Moody v Mark Allen
Chris Wakelin/Liam Pullen vs Neil Robertson/Pang Junxu
Si Jiahui/Hossein Vafaei vs Judd Trump/Gary Wilson
John Higgins/Ali Carter vs Ronnie O’Sullivan/He Guoqiang
Barry Hawkins vs Mark Williams*
Mark Selby /Jak Jones vs Wu Yize/Lei Peifan
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