The snooker calendar settles slightly in March, with a quieter month on the professional circuit but still plenty at stake across the World Snooker Tour and the amateur game.
Barry Hawkins kick started the month by capturing the Welsh Open crown on Sunday, the final in Llandudno taking place on March 1st.
With only one more ranking title up for grabs on the World Snooker Tour during this period, the focus sharpens around crucial ranking races, while several major amateur tournaments offer life-changing opportunities for aspiring professionals.
World Snooker Tour
World Open
The World Open returns to Yushan in China, with significant implications across multiple ranking battles as the season approaches its climax.
Defending champion John Higgins will look to retain the title he captured a year ago, but for many players this represents a pivotal final opportunity to influence key races.
With a top prize of £175,000 on offer, the tournament could prove decisive in determining qualification for the Tour Championship via the one-year ranking list, as well as World Championship seeding and tour survival positions further down the rankings.
As the last chance for many to make meaningful moves before the elite end-of-season events, the pressure in Yushan is likely to be intense.
When is it? March 16 – 22.
Tour Championship
The penultimate ranking event of the season, the Tour Championship, heads to Manchester at the end of March.
Featuring only the top 12 players on the one-year ranking list, the elite-field event is widely regarded as one of the toughest tournaments to win due to the consistent high standard throughout the draw.
John Higgins is again the defending champion having triumphed in last year’s edition, where the Scot picked up the top prize worth £150,000.
With only the World Championship to follow, this event serves as a final dress rehearsal for the sport’s biggest stage and a critical opportunity to secure both prize money and momentum.
When is it? March 30 – April 5.
Amateur Snooker
EBSA European Championships
March is a hugely important month on the amateur circuit as the EBSA European Championships take place in Gandia.
The event is divided into two competitions: the European Under-21 Championship (March 5 – 8) and the flagship European Championship (March 8 – 14).
Both tournaments carry enormous prestige within the amateur game, but even more significantly, the winners will each earn a two-year professional tour card.
For Europe’s top amateurs, Gandia represents a golden opportunity to break onto the main tour.
When is it? March 5 – 14.
Q Tour Global Play Offs
Also staged in Gandia, the Q Tour Global Play Offs will see 24 amateurs compete for three coveted two-year tour cards.
The field consists of 16 players from the European Q Tour rankings and eight qualifiers from the global Q Tour events.
Jamie Clarke has already secured automatic promotion after finishing as the top-ranked player on the Q Tour list, but the remaining hopefuls must battle it out in a high-pressure knockout format.
With professional status on the line, the margins for error are minimal.
When is it? March 15 – 17.
World Women’s Snooker Tour
British Women’s Open
The British Women’s Open takes place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall toward the end of the month.
Defending champion Ng On Yee will return to defend the crown in what is the final scheduled ranking event of the 2025/26 campaign.
With valuable ranking points on offer, the tournament is likely to attract a strong and competitive field.
When is it? March 27 – 29.
What other snooker tournaments are taking place?
If you know of any other interesting snooker tournaments happening anywhere in the world during the month of March, let us know in the comments section below.
Feature photo credit: WST
Is there going to be a Women’s World Snooker Championship this year do you know? I can’t find a reference to one on Wikipedia or “good old Google” and the British Open is called the final ranking tournament of the 2025-26 women’s season in this article.
It says it’s the final scheduled ranking event. For whatever reason, dates for the World Championship haven’t been announced yet.
The EBSA event isn’t restricted to Amateurs.
Michał Szubarczyk and Mykhailo Larkov are there.
I realise Larkov hasn’t started on the WST as yet, but there will be many that consider the whole event, especially the U21 and the Main/Men’s (EBSA sometimes still call it Men’s) should be restricted to amateurs only.
As far as I can tell, Szubarczyk is only in the U16 and U18 events which don’t provide tour cards – still a bit strange but more understandable. Larkov is still technically an amateur so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be allowed to play.
The 2026 EBSA European Championships are in Gandia in Spain (near Valencia) and not in Granada.
Thanks for the correction.
The Conditions for this season’s 22 147,s thusfar
1) China Zhang Anda Round: Last 16
China 2025 Shanghai Masters Date: 2025-07-29
2) China Zhao Xintong Round: Group 6 – Semi-final
England 2026 Championship League Date: 2026-01-22
3) England Ronnie O’Sullivan Round:Semi-final TWICE !
Saudi Arabia 2025 Saudi Arabia Masters Date:2025-08-15
Hello Dave, with some time on my hands or maybe time procrastinating, I have done research on the 22 maximum 147s this season. The fact is we only have had slightly better than 9% chance of seeing that Maximum on semi Saturday or the Sunday final. In fact, if some weren’t fixated on his character, one could rightly say only Ronnie O’Sulliven scored 147s in the semi final so far this year. Considering how few tournaments he entered makes it even for astonishing. Oh yes, and he did it for the most money by far as the bonus for 2 maximums was £147,000 and then 2/3’s of the £50,000 highest break had his bonus prize money totaling £180,333. All told he walked out with £380,333 as the loser of the final!
So many good snooker players would close down their came in the latter stages of a tournament by playing safety shots. The GOAT did not compromise his game, given the opportunity and skills, it was/is full steam ahead towards the next pot.
I may love my football team, but that is not to say all the players are humans I would respect nor admire. I chose to admire the play of player and team and that is all. Same applies with the game of snooker. Just my thoughts.
I definitely welcome yours.