The penultimate ranking event of the season is next on the agenda with the 2026 Tour Championship back at the Manchester Central.
The top 12 from the one-year snooker rankings will be participating from Monday, each hoping to get their hands on the £150,000 top prize.
The Tour Championship represents the last leg of the Players Series, with Zhao Xintong bidding for a clean sweep following his recent successes at the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship.
It’ll also mark the last opportunity for players to hone their skills and hit top form ahead of the campaign-concluding World Championship in Sheffield.
2026 Tour Championship prize money
Champion: £150,000
Runner-up: £60,000
Semi-final: £40,000
Quarter-final: £30,000
Last 12: £20,000
Highest Break: £10,000
Total: £500,000
When is the 2026 Tour Championship?
The 2026 Tour Championship commences on Monday, March 30th with the final to be played over 19 frames on Sunday, April 5th.
Who are the former champions?
John Higgins is the reigning champion, the Scot getting his hands on the prestigious trophy for the first time last year with a hard-fought victory over Mark Selby.
Neil Robertson, this year’s top seed, is the only two-time former winner of the event following his back-to-back glories in 2021 and 2022.
Alongside Higgins and Robertson, Shaun Murphy (2023) and Mark Williams (2024) are other ex-champions in the draw this year.
Ronnie O’Sullivan triumphed at the inaugural edition of the Tour Championship back in 2019 with Stephen Maguire emerging victoriously a year later, but neither will participate in 2026.
Ranked eighth on the one-year rankings, O’Sullivan would have qualified comfortably but opted against entering on this occasion.
Zhao Xintong and world number one Judd Trump will both be hoping to get their hands on the trophy for the first time and are the two favourites in the outright betting market.
How does the format work?
There is always excitement at this juncture of the season, particularly for those who love the traditional long formats of the game.
For the next five weeks, the shortest match on the calendar will be the best of 19 frames, which indeed will be the length of every game in each round of the Tour Champs.
The top four players from the one-year rankings – Neil Robertson, Zhao Xintong, Mark Selby, and Shaun Murphy – have been seeded through to the quarter-finals.
The remaining eight players will first contest the round of 12, with a barnstorming affair between legends Mark Williams and John Higgins to look forward to already.
Another fascinating early encounter pits Judd Trump against Mark Allen, while Wu Yize plays Chris Wakelin.
Last week’s World Open champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh’s maiden appearance in the tournament will be against Barry Hawkins.
Un-Nooh is the only player in the field who can break into the top 16 ahead of the Crucible, but he would need to win another title in order to usurp Ding Junhui as an automatic World Championship seed.
2026 Tour Championship draw
Round of 12 (bo19)
Times in BST
Barry Hawkins (8) vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (9)
Monday at 13:00 and Tuesday at 13:00
Judd Trump (5) vs Mark Allen (12)
Monday at 13:00 and 19:00
Mark Williams (6) vs John Higgins (11)
Tuesday at 13:00 and 19:00
Wu Yize (7) vs Chris Wakelin (11)
Monday at 19:00 and Tuesday at 19:00
Quarter-Finals (bo19)
Neil Robertson (1) vs Hawkins/Un-Nooh
Wednesday at 13:00 and Thursday at 13:00
Shaun Murphy (4) vs Trump/Allen
Wednesday at 13:00 and 19:00
Mark Selby (3) vs Williams/Higgins
Thursday at 13:00 and 19:00
Zhao Xintong (2) vs Wu/Wakelin
Wednesday at 19:00 and Thursday at 19:00
How to watch the 2026 Tour Championship
There are several options available to watch the upcoming snooker live depending on your location.
Many of the popular betting sites at betting.bet provide live streaming of snooker events through signing up on their websites or apps.
Below is a full list of official options, as published on the World Snooker Tour website:
UK & Ireland: 5
Mainland Europe: Eurosport; discovery+ (Germany, Italy, Austria); HBO Max (all 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
Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya: SportyTV
All Other Territories: WST Play
Featured photo credit: WST
5 Action will show the snooker from 8pm over the first four days. The rest of this event is on the main 5 channel.
Hello Dave and everyone.
I had a theory (unproven) about Zhao Xintong which is that for players that are not high in the rankings, he seems to toy with them by letting them go up a few frames and then take over the game. It certainly backfired however when he tried that with Gary Wilson. My new theory leads me to my other story. Xintong is always up for tournaments where only the tops players are eligible spare for some wildcards. This theory was brought on when I realised Xintong has one the first two player series.
The first Player Series being the top 32 players from this season’s Sportsbet.io One-Year rankings. Ranking Event.
Players Series 2026 £700,000 World Grand Prix Winner: £180,000 Zhao Xintong
The second Player Seriesthe top 16 players on the one-year ranking list as it stands after the 2026 World Grand Prix. Ranking Event
£500,000 2026 Sportsbet.io Players Championship Winner: £150,000 Zhao Xintong
Therefore, if he could follow that up with this week’s final Player Series.. the top 12 from the one-year snooker rankings £500,000 2026 Sportsbet.io Tour Championship he would be the first ever player to sweep the series. That will be history in the making. It would not only total £480,000 by beating the best snooker players in the world but also make quite the statement. Of course he is a long way from doing such; however that is primarily what is at stake this week. There was a bonus for the Player Series triple however that funding was lost in 2020. As it stands Neil Robertson has been considered the most successful participant by not only winning 5 Player Series Tournaments but also winning at least one tournament every year he entered.
To complement this theory Zhao Xintong also won the top 12 plus two Saudi wildcards
£1,005,000 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship Winner: £250,000 Zhao Xintong
And ended in the semis during the top 16 players in the world rankings, the four highest-ranked Chinese players outside the top 16, and another four Chinese wildcards. Non Ranking Event
2025 £825,000 Shanghai Masters lost to tournament winner Kyren Wilson
Thanks for the heads up Jay, on the channel info.