The 2026 World Open final will be contested between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh on Sunday in Yushan.
An encounter between two of the game’s most naturally gifted cueists should provide an exciting conclusion to the season’s third-last ranking tournament.
O’Sullivan continued to show signs of his resurgence in the semi-finals with a hard-fought deciding-frame victory over rising star Wu Yize.
The Rocket, who compiled a world record break of 153 in the previous round, prevailed from an entertaining battle with the young Chinese competitor.
O’Sullivan has one more hurdle to overcome if he’s to finally end a two-year title drought on the World Snooker Tour.
The 50 year-old hasn’t picked up silverware since the World Masters of Snooker invitational in March of 2024, and you have to go back even further to January of that same year for his most recent triumph in a ranking event.
Later on Saturday, meanwhile, Un-Nooh stunned world number one Judd Trump with a terrific three-ton display helping him toward a 6-4 victory.
The Thai almost choked as he missed a straightforward pink in the tenth frame, and relief rather than delight was etched all over his face when he eventually sunk a difficult long black to clinch the win.
It takes the 40 year-old – one of the most talented players in snooker history but also one of the sport’s great underachievers – through to a third career ranking final.
Oddly enough, Un-Nooh’s last appearance at this stage was back in the same event in 2019 when he was pipped to glory by Trump.
The former Shoot Out champion will once again be an overwhelming underdog on this occasion, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the trophy ends up in his hands either.
O’Sullivan, prolific though he has been throughout his career, will surely feel some levels of pressure as he hunts down a long-overdue title.
But even so, it would be a pretty big shock if the world no.12 wasn’t able to add to his record haul of 41 ranking crowns.
Victory for Un-Nooh, meanwhile, would be particularly lucrative as not only would he land the £175,000 top prize, but that would also be enough to see him qualify for the upcoming Tour Championship through the one-year list.
O’Sullivan and Un-Nooh have only faced each other on three occasions in the past, with the former leading the head-to-head 2-1.
That includes one previous best-of-19 clash at the 2020 World Championship, where O’Sullivan thrashed Un-Nooh with a heavy 10-1 scoreline in Sheffield.
If Un-Nooh is to avoid that kind of result this time, one suspects the opening exchanges of the first session will be absolutely vital to his chances.
The 2026 World Open final will be played over the best of 19 frames with the sessions commencing at 06:00 and 11:30 GMT.
Featured photos credit: WST
