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
Aside from Alfie Burden winning the Club9 Shootout, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is the highest ranked player (39) to win a tournament this 25/26 season.
I know the professional journalist, David Caulfield is awesome with summaries. This is just a messy summary from me. I hope you enjoy.
2025-2026 SNOOKER SEASON (June ‘25 to May ’26)
1) £328,000 2025 BETVICTOR CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER (July)
Winner: Stephen Macquire £33,000 Runner Up: Joe O Conner £23,000
2) £825,000 Shanghai Masters 2025 (July-August)
Non Ranking Event – Invitational – only 2 rounds
Winner: Kyren Wilson £210,000 Runner Up: Ali Carter £105,000
3) £2,302,000 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters 2025 (Jedda) (August)
Ranking event
Winner: Neil Robertson £500,000 (10-9) Runner-up: Ronnie O’Sullivan £200,000
Ronnie O Sullivan Bonuses for 2 147max in tournament plus same 2 147Max in top four tourneys 2/3 of £50,000 bonus and £147,000 Total £380,333
Ranking event
4) £700,000 2025 Wuhan Open (August)
Winner: £140,000 Xiao Guodong (10-9) Runner-up: £63,000 Gary Wilson
Ranking event The 2025 English Open runs from September 15-21 in Brentwood,
5) £550,400 2025 BetVictor English Open (September 15-21)
Winner: £100,000 Mark Allen (9-8) Runner-up: £45,000 Zhou Youlong(10)
Ranking event The 2025 British Open runs from September 22-28 at Cheltenham Racecourse
6) £502,000 2025 British Open (September 22-28)
Winner: £100,000 Shawn Murphy(8)
Murphy dedicated this win to his coach Peter Ebdon.
Ranking tournament Xi’an, which has a population of 13 million, is the capital of the Shaanxi Province in central China. Qujiang Athletic Center
7) £850,000 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix October 7
Winner: £177,000 Mark Williams (4)
History in the making. Mark Williams becomes oldest ranking event winner.
Ranking event. Waterfront Hall in the heart of the Belfast (very nice facility)-
8) £550,400 2025 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open (October 19-26)
Winner: £100,000 Jack Lisowski (24)
Jack Lisowski won over very good friend Judd Trump for his long time coming “first ranking title”.
Nanjing, China – Ranking Tournament
9) 2025 £825,000 International Championship (Nov 2 – Nov 9)
Winner: £175,000 Wu Yize (22)
This was Wu Yize’s very “first ranking title”.
10) Non Ranking (free money for the big boys) Mattioli Arena Leicester, England
(10) £440,000 Champion of Champions 2025 (Mon 10 Nov – Sun 16 Nov 2025)-
Winner: £150,000 Mark Selby 4 match wins to be called the winner.
Non Ranking The 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship is an upcoming professional non-ranking snooker tournament that will take place from 19 to 21 November 2025 at the Globe Theatre in Boulevard City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(11) £1,005,000 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship (only for the “big boys”)
Winner: £250,000 Zhao Xintong (10)
167 Gold Ball maximum break: $1 million. The event will feature twelve participants, comprising the defending champion, the reigning World Champion, the eight other highest-ranked players in the snooker world rankings as they stood after the 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix, and two local wildcard players. Highest break only 134.(Xintong). More like an exhibition.
Ranking Event York, Barbican. It is part of snooker’s Triple Crown Series.
(12) £1,205,000 2025 UK Championship (Nov 29 to Dec 7)
Winner £250,000 Mark Selby(11)
3rd Time UK winner for Mark Selby. These “big boys” Selby and Trump put me to sleep. Not good.
Ranking Event Lancashire, Blackpool Tower Circus
Ever present on the calendar since 2011, the Shoot Out has a unique set of rules, with all matches lasting a maximum of ten minutes. Shot clock of 15 seconds for the first five minutes and ten seconds for the last five, so players must keep their nerve and think fast.
(13) 2025 £171,000 9Club Shoot Out December 10-13
Winner £50,000 Alfie Burden(seniors champ, not on tour)
Ranking event December 15-21 at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh
(14) £550,400 BetVictor Scottish Open 2025
Winner: £100,000 Chris Wakelin(17)
“Very first” ranking title for Wakelin.
Non ranking event January 11- 18. Only the top 16 players in the world rankings qualify for the Masters, making it a skewed contest at best. Alexandra Palace, north London.
(15) £1,015,000 2026 Johnstone’s Paint “Masters” triple crown event
Winner: £350,000 Kyren Wilson(2) 4 matches for 350 large free money. Do fans really hate to watch the likes of Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Thepchaiyav Un-Noo, Anthony McGill, Zak Surety, Stan Moody and Elliot Slessor so much that they need these preppy non ranking tournaments?
Ranking Mon 26 Jan – Sun 01 Feb 2026 Berlin, Germany
(16) £550,400 Machineseeker German Masters 2026
Winner: £100,000 Judd Trump(1)
First ranking title since December 2024. Still will be eligible for non ranking tournament though.
Ranking The tournament runs from February 3rd to 8th at the spectacular Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong,pop.7.5mil, featuring the top 32 players from this season’s Sportsbet.io One-Year rankings. Invitational + ranking event. (This should not be a ranking event.) Players Series I know I am a new fan but this “series” is highway robbery where I come from. “To be the best you need you beat the rest”, not some of the rest.
(17) 2026 £700,000 World Grand Prix
Winner: £180,000 Zhao Xintong(7)
In the first round 10 Chinese beat 9 English Best. Judd Trump(1) lost to Sijun(31), Kyren Wilson(2) lost to Guodong(10), Williams(4) lost to Anda(23), Higgins(5) lost to Xintong(10), Murphy(7) lost to Junxu(27), Gary Wison(18) lost to Si Jianhu,Lisowski(22) lost to Bingyu, Maguire(26) lost to Yuelong(52) and Mcgill(46) lost to Wu Yize(13).
Non Ranking Event Tue 10 Feb – Wed 11 Feb 2026 Leceister Areana Leceister England
18) $205,000 Championship League Snooker 2026 (Winners Group)
Winner: Mark Selby £21,000
The event will take place from 17 to 22 February 2026 at the Telford International Centre in Telford, Shropshire, England. Population 185,000. It will feature the top 16 players on the one-year ranking list as it stands after the 2026 World Grand Prix. Ranking Event It’s the second event in the Players Series
19)£500,000 2026 Sportsbet.io Players Championship
Winner: £150,000 Zhao Xintong(7)
4 matches all it takes instead of the standard 7. Worst part? Over 50 professional snooker players sat at home.
Ranking event The 2026 BetVictor Welsh Open runs from February 23 to March 1 in Llandudno,North Wales. Population only 20,000 but is a tourist resort.
20) £550,400 2026 BetVictor Welsh Open
Winner: £100,000 Barry Hawkins(14) rank 22 was runner up and ranks 25 and 81 finished in the quarter finals.
Ranking event The 2026 World Open runs from March 16-22 in Yushan, China.
21) £825,000 2026 World Open
Winner: £175,000 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh(39) Yes rank 39, how dare he?
Un-Nooh’s final and semi- final is some of the most entertaining snooker you you’ll see and him beat the GOAT outright in the final. I close my case why non ranking tournaments and player series makes no sense to me.