Championship League Snooker: 2026 prize money, groups, schedule, and how to watch

Snooker in 2026 cues off with the return of the invitational version of the Championship League, played at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.

There was already a ranking event version of this competition staged at the beginning of the campaign with Stephen Maguire emerging victoriously at the same venue.

But it’s back to the tournament’s original format – contested behind closed doors – over the course of the next month or so.

What is Championship League Snooker?

Championship League Snooker was launched in 2008 and has been played every year since then.

Joe Perry was the inaugural champion while Leicester’s own Mark Selby is the most recent victor having secured back-to-back triumphs in 2024 and 2025.

John Higgins is the record four-time winner of the event, while world number one Judd Trump and Martin Gould are the other multiple champions.

The likes of Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui, and Stuart Bingham have also etched their names onto this trophy in the past.

---

Prize Money

Groups 1 – 7
Winner: £3,000
Runner-up: £2,000
Semi-final: £1,000
Frame-win (league stage): £100
Frame-win (play-offs): £300
Highest break: £500

Winners’ Group
Winner: £10,000
Runner-up: £5,000
Semi-final: £3,000
Frame-win (league stage): £200
Frame-win (play-offs): £300
Highest break: £1,000

---

There are seven groups comprising seven players in each, with the seven winners advancing to a final group that will determine the overall champion.

In each group, the players first contest a round robin stage before four players advance to the knockout semi-finals.

All the semi-finalists, except of course the player who wins the group, plus the fifth-placed runner from the round robin get another opportunity in the subsequent group.

Those who finish sixth and seventh in the round robin are eliminated each time, while each match is played over the short best-of-five frame format.

In total, 25 players are expected to participate in the 2025 Championship League Snooker draw.

Who is in Group 1?

Group 1 of the event takes place on Friday and Saturday, with recent Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin the highest-ranked player involved.

Elliot Slessor, Joe O’Connor, Pang Junxu, Tom Ford, Hossein Vafaei, and Jackson Page will also attempt to get their calendar years off to a strong start.

The likes of Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan have opted against entering this year’s Championship League, which like before carries a modest prize fund.

However, reigning champion Selby, world champion Zhao Xintong, and top-ranked stars Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson are among those set to enter the fray later in the competition.

In the past, the Championship League Snooker winner was guaranteed a spot at the Champion of Champions.

However, that may not be the case in 2026 after the new criteria was announced by promoters Matchroom Sport a month ago.

What is the schedule?

All seven qualifying groups take place in January with the final Winners’ Group scheduled for the start of February.

The lineup for the 2026 Championship League Snooker invitational below is provisional and subject to change.

---

Group 1: January 2 – 3
Chris Wakelin
Elliot Slessor
Joe O’Connor
Pang Junxu
Tom Ford
Hossein Vafaei
Jackson Page

Group 2: January 4 – 5
Gary Wilson
David Gilbert
Noppon Saengkham

Group 3: January 6 – 7
Xiao Guodong
Si Jiahui
Yuan Sijun

Group 4: January 8 – 9
Kyren Wilson
Neil Robertson
Zhao Xintong

Group 5: January 19 – 20
Mark Selby
Wu Yize
Stuart Bingham

Group 6: January 21 – 22
Jak Jones
Jack Lisowski
Zhang Anda

Group 7: January 23 – 24
Zhou Yuelong
Lei Peifan
Jimmy Robertson

Winners’ Group: February 10 – 11

---

How to watch Championship League Snooker

According to the official Championship League Snooker website, fans in the UK and Ireland will be able to watch action from Table 1 on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel and action from Table 2 on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.

Those options will also be available to viewers from territories without an official broadcaster.

Below is a list of the global broadcasting partners for the tournament:

• Eurasian Broadcasting – Ukraine & CIS territories
• Fox Sports – Australia
• Nova – Czechia & Slovakia
• Rigour – China
• PCCW – Hong Kong
• Viaplay – Iceland & Netherlands
• Reddentes – Thailand
• Sky NZ – New Zealand (February 10–11)
• TV3 – Baltics
• Viasat – Scandinavia

Featured photo credit: WST