Mark Selby, Zhao Xintong, and Wu Yize are all guaranteed to feature at the 2026 Champion of Champions after the qualifying criteria was announced on Tuesday.
Selby won the invitational event for the first time last month after beating world number one Judd Trump 10-5 in the final.
As the defending champion, Selby was naturally always going to receive an invitation back, but Chinese duo Zhao and Wu have also been awarded with early confirmations.
Zhao triumphed at the recent Riyadh Season Snooker Championship to safeguard his return, while Wu will make his debut on the back of his success at the International Championship.
The latter tournament was actually staged the week before this year’s edition of the Champion of Champions, but it will count towards the 2026 criteria instead.
Matchroom Multi Sport, the promoters behind the Champion of Champions, received a barrage of criticism prior to the 2025 event at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester for their handling of the invitation criteria.
An official announcement regarding the draw’s composition was only made a couple of weeks prior to the event’s opening.
But that then generated confusion and backlash as it appeared as if a place was going to be awarded to Ronnie O’Sullivan through the rankings list instead of to the world seniors champion, Alfie Burden.
Soon after and only days before the competition commenced, Burden was reinstated only to lose 4-0 in the first round to Mark Williams.
It wasn’t the first time that Matchoom had been slated for their lack of transparency surrounding the draw.
But it appears that the organisation has finally learned its lesson with a much clearer outlook on how the 2026 Champion of Champions field will look.
There are 25 routes on the provisional list of qualifying events, with 16 places once again up for grabs.
Something that is immediately noticeable is the clearer lack of a place for the world seniors champion on this occasion, potentially a political decision in response to the controversy of a few weeks ago.
World Seniors Tour’s Jason Francis was quick to lambast the decision, writing on X: “Thank you for totally disrespecting the 2026 World Seniors Champion.”
“Lets hope it ends up being someone you then need for commercial needs… did you inform the WPBSA Players board ahead of announcing this?”
Most of the tournaments on the provisional list are the same as before, however.
The only other significant difference is that both the ranking and invitational versions of Championship League Snooker – events that are also promoted by Matchroom – have been pushed down the order in terms of priority.
The ongoing UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York will provide the next player in the 2026 Champion of Champions draw – assuming Selby, Zhao, or Wu don’t get their hands on the trophy of course.
The specific dates, meanwhile, for the 2026 Champion of Champions in Leicester have yet to be confirmed.
2026 Champion of Champions Qualifying Criteria:
Champions of Champions 2025: Mark Selby (England)
World Championship 2026
UK Championship 2025
The Masters 2026
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters 2026
167 Riyadh Season Snooker Champs 2025: Zhao Xintong (China)
World Grand Prix 2026
Players Championship 2026
Tour Championship 2026
German Masters 2026
International Championship 2025: Wu Yize (China)
World Open 2026
Wuhan Open 2026
Xi’an Grand Prix 2026
Northern Ireland Open 2026
Welsh Open 2026
English Open 2026
Scottish Open 2025
British Open 2026
Championship League Snooker Ranking 202
Women’s World Championship 2026
Shoot Out 2025
World Championship Runner-Up 2026
Shanghai Masters 2026
Championship League Snooker Invitational 2026
Featured image credit: Matchroom
This list doesn’t give enough respect to the Chinese events. It’s a poor call to have the Chinese ranking events behind the Home Nations series and German Masters. The Shanghai Masters being placed second bottom is absurd. It boasts a history and a purse exceeding many events positioned above it. It currently boasts the largest first prize in China.
The decision to omit the seniors world champion smacks of pettiness relating to the feud between Jason Francis and Barry Hearn.