Brace for chaos – the 2025 Snooker Shoot Out lands in Blackpool for the annual four-day stretch of ten-minute drama.
The Snooker Shoot Out, which runs from Wednesday to Saturday, represents the tenth ranking event of the 2025/26 campaign.
The setting at the Tower Circus couldn’t be much more different compared to last week’s prestigious UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York.
It will be a much more relaxed atmosphere at the seaside destination as every fan’s favourite tournament to either love or hate returns to the schedule.
Regardless of all that, it remains a tournament to be won, and the confidence from getting one’s hands on the silverware here can lead to much greater things on the circuit.
Just look at the trajectory of Chris Wakelin’s career since he emerged with the trophy to claim a maiden ranking title a little under three years ago.
Wakelin is one of several former champions who are back in the Snooker Shoot Out draw in 2025.
Tom Ford is the defending champion, the Leicester man getting his hands on silverware at a full ranking event for the first time a year ago.
A lot of high-profile players choose to skip this week’s action considering its unpredictability and a relatively low prize fund.
Despite the fact that ten of the top 16 members are absent, there are still plenty of marquee names in the field.
World champion Zhao Xintong is set to participate for the first time since 2022 while Shaun Murphy, who memorably compiled a 147 break in the late-2023 edition, returns.
Former champions Mark Allen, Hossein Vafaei, Ryan Day, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Anthony McGill, and Michael Holt will also attempt to survive the seven one-frame shoot outs again.
Prize money
Champion: £50,000
Runner-up: £20,000
Semi-Final: £8,000
Quarter-Final: £4,000
Last 16: £2,000
Last 32: £1,000
Last 64: £500
Last 128: £250
Highest Break: £5,000
TOTAL: £171,000
What is the Snooker Shoot Out format?
The Snooker Shoot Out, which incorporates a random draw for each round, is always a controversial inclusion as a ranking event given its deviation from the normal rules of the game.
Each match lasts only one ten-minute frame, with a 15-second shot clock in operation for the first five minutes and a 10-second shot clock required for the remaining time.
Players lag to determine who breaks off, every shot must result in a ball hitting a cushion or getting potted, and the ball-in-hand rule is in operation for any foul committed.
Originally an invitational, the event was upgraded to ranking event status in 2017 – much to the dismay of most involved in the sport.
2025 Snooker Shoot Out draw and first-round schedule
Round of 128 (bo1)
Wednesday 1pm GMT/UTC
Matches approximately every 15 minutes.
Ethan Llewellyn vs Yao Pengcheng
Steven Wardropper vs Florian Nuessle
Stuart Carrington vs Zhao Hanyang
Lan Yuhao vs Joel Connolly
Michael Holt vs Ashley Hugill
Chatchapong Nasa vs Stan Moody
Mark Davis vs Pang Junxu
Jiang Jun vs Robbie McGuigan
Mateuesz Baranowski vs Ken Doherty
David Lilley vs Ali Carter
Martin O’Donnell vs Tom Ford
Ricky Walden vs Ryan Davies
Dylan Emery vs Mitchell Mann
Leone Crowley vs Amir Sarkosh
Zhang Anda vs Julien Leclercq
Long Zehuang vs Luca Brecel
Wednesday, 7pm GMT/UTC
Matches approximately every 10-15 minutes
Joe O’Connor vs Duane Jones
Haydon Pinhey vs Allan Taylor
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Dean Young
Iulian Boiko vs Hatem Yassen
Shaun Murphy vs Patrick Whelan
Xu Yichen vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ashley Carty vs Bulcsu Revesz
Elliot Slessor vs Louis Heathcote
David Gilbert vs Matthew Stevens
Mahmoud El Hareedy vs Gary Wilson
Jimmy Robertson vs Matthew Selt
Ben Woollaston vs Ben Mertens
Chris Wakelin vs Zhou Yuelong
Sanderson Lam vs Jonas Luz
Fergal Quinn vs Jordan Brown
Umut Dikme vs Ryan Day
Thursday, 1pm GMT/UTC
Matches approximately every 10-15 minutes
Wu Yize vs Craig Steadman
Cheung Ka Wai vs Liam Graham
Noppon Saengkham vs Xu Si
Chang Bingyu vs Liam Pullen
Lyu Haotian vs Fan Zhengyi
Michal Szubarczyk vs Jamie Jones
Wang Yuchen vs Kaylan Patel
Paul Deaville vs Huang Jiahao
Ng On Yee vs Mark Allen
Ross Muir vs Zhao Xintong
Jackson Page vs Lei Peifan
Riley Powell vs Daniel Wells
Yuan Sijun vs Gong Chenzhi
Simon Blackwell vs Reanne Evans
Halim Hussain vs Vladislav Gradinari
Ellise Scott vs Bai Yulu
Thursday, 7pm GMT/UTC
Matches approximately every 10-15 minutes
Oliver Lines vs Mark Lloyd
Daniel Womersley vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Sam Craigie vs Si Jiahui
Stephen Maguire vs Farakh Ajaib
Hossein Vafaei vs Haris Tahir
Robert Milkins vs Liu Hongyu
Aaron Hill vs Liu Wenwei
Ian Burns vs Liam Highfield
Stuart Bingham vs Jack O’Brien
Oliver Brown vs Jimmy White
Antoni Kowalski vs Sahil Nayyar
Gao Yang vs Steven Hallworth
Zak Surety vs Kreishh Gurbaxani
Chris Totten vs Connor Benzey
Liam Davies vs Anthony McGill
He Guoqiang vs David Grace
Click here for updated results
(snooker.org)
How to watch
There are several viewing options depending on where you are located in the world. A full list of global broadcasters is below.
UK & Ireland: TNT Sports, discovery+
Mainland Europe: Eurosport; discovery+ (Germany, Italy, Austria); HBO Max (other markets)
China: Huya.com, Migu, CBSA–WPBSA Academy (WeChat & Douyin)
Hong Kong China: Now TV
Malaysia & Brunei: Astro Supersport
Taiwan: Sportcast
Thailand: True Sport
Philippines: TAP Sports
All Other Territories: WST Play
Featured photo credit: WST
