2026 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers: Dates, venue, format, draw details, prize money, players & more

Everything you need to know about the 2026 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers as 128 players bid to seal a lucrative spot at Sheffield's iconic Crucible Theatre.

Dates

When does qualifying for the World Snooker Championship start?

The 2026 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers are set to take place between Monday 6th April and Wednesday 15th April, 2026.

The World Snooker Championship itself kick-off just a couple of days after qualifying reaches its conclusion, on the morning of Saturday 18th April, 2026.

Format

• Round One - Players ranked 81 to 112 v those ranked 113 to 144.
• Round Two - The 32 winners v players ranked 49 to 80.
• Round Three - The 32 winners v players ranked 17 to 48.
• Round Four - The 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.

All four rounds of the 2026 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers will be played out over a best-of-19 frame format, meaning the player who reaches ten frames first advances to the next round.

Players will enter qualifying at different stages based upon their world ranking position following the 2026 Tour Championship in early April.

Draw

World Snooker Championship - First Round Draw in Full

The draw for the 2026 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers was scheduled took place at the end of March, following the conclusion of the World Open in China.

• Yao Pengcheng v Ryan Davies
• Huang Jiahao v Leone Crowley
• Bai Yulu v Daniel Womersley
• Gao Yang v Jimmy White
• Jonas Luz v Peter Lines
• Mitchell Mann v Xinbo Wang
• Michal Szubarczyk v Onyee Ng
• Robbie McGuigan v Hammad Miah
• Ross Muir v Michael Larkov
• Haris Tahir v Connor Benzey
• Mateusz Baranowski v Florian Nuessle
• Liam Pullen v Alfie Burden
• Cheung Ka Wai v Ashley Carty
• Ken Doherty v Patrick Whelan
• Dylan Emery v Anton Kazakob
• Reanne Evans v Vladislav Gradinari
• Bulcsu Revesz v Craig Steadman
• Chris Totten v Daniel Boyes
• Steven Hallworth v Kreishh Gurbaxani
• Marco Fu v Mink Nutcharut
• Liam Graham v Oliver Sykes
• Alexander Ursenbacher v Prin Ratmudka
• Xu Yichen v Stuart Carrington
• Ian Burns v Sahil Nayyar
• Liu Wenwei v Mark Lloyd
• David Grace v Ashley Hugill
• Hatem Yassen v Fergal Quinn
• Lan Yuhao v Chatchapong Nasa
• Hayden Pinhey v Jamie Clarke
• Zhao Hanyang v Mahmoud El Hareedy
• Liam Highfield v Oliver Brown
• Farakh Ajaib v Umut Dikme

Click here to check out the full draw and bracket on the World Snooker Tour's official website.

Venue

The 2026 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers will be staged at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

The venue, which is typically used by British athletes, has housed World Snooker Championship Qualifiers for the past few years, taking over from Ponds Forge, which was previously used.

Fans wishing you take in the qualification campaign can do so, with tickets costing just £12 per day directly from the English Institute of Sport official website.

Prize Money

How much do players get for qualifying for the World Snooker Championship?

• Winner: £500,000
• Runner-up: £200,000
• Semi-finals: £100,000
• Quarter-finals: £50,000
• Last 16: £30,000
• Last 32: £20,000
• Last 48: £15,000
• Last 80: £10,000
• Last 112: £5,000
• High break: £15,000
• Total: £2,395,000

The 16 qualifiers who book their tickets to the Crucible Theatre for the last 32 of the 2026 World Snooker Championship will pocket a guaranteed £20,000 - the same amount as 2025.

Prize Money across the qualifiers rises across all four rounds, with players reaching the last 112 taking home £5,000, those securing a spot in the last 80 earning £10,000 and the 16 losers in the final qualifying round pocketing £15,000.

For the 16 players who reach the Crucible, there are even greater rewards on offer, with £30,000 the reward for winning their opening match and a bumper £500,000 the reward for the eventual winner of the WST's showpiece event.

Players

Who is playing in the World Snooker Championship Qualifiers this year?

With just the top 16 players in the world rankings guaranteed of a spot at the Crucible, it means a plethora of other top players will be in action at the English Institute of Sport, likely including Stuart Bingham, Jack Lisowski, Jak Jones, Ali Carter and Gary Wilson.

Stalwarts of the game, Jimmy White and Ken Doherty will also be in attendance as they attempt to secure historic returns to the spiritual home of World Snooker in Sheffield.