A total of 128 players has been whittled down to just 32 with Judgement Day last up on the 2026 World Snooker Championship qualifiers schedule.
The remaining contenders will vie for the 16 available spots at the Crucible Theatre, desperate to join the world’s top 16 in the first-round draw on Thursday.
Eight matches will take place on Tuesday with the other eight fixtures pencilled in for Wednesday at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
Judgement Day in the snooker qualifiers is a thrilling mini event in its own right, and one that serves as an appropriate appetiser for the main course that gets under way on Saturday morning.
Judgement Day: Tuesday, April 14
Session 1: 11:00 BST. Session 2: 17:00 BST
Stuart Bingham vs Matthew Stevens
Former champion Stuart Bingham and two-time runner-up Matthew Stevens each have oodles of experience at the Crucible Theatre, but one of them won’t feature at all in 2026.
Neither qualified last year, so missing out for a second successive season would be a bitter pill to swallow for either.
Hossein Vafaei vs Gao Yang
It hasn’t been a good season for Hossein Vafaei, but a lot can still be salvaged through a strong finish in Sheffield.
The Iranian entertains young Chinese talent Gao Yang, who is one three players in Judgement Day who have survived from the opening round of the qualifiers.
Aaron Hill vs David Gilbert
A repeat of a classic Judgement Day clash from a year ago pits former Crucible semi-finalist David Gilbert against debutant wannabe Aaron Hill.
Hill suffered a crushing 10-9 loss at the same hurdle in 2025 so will be keen on exacting revenge, but Gilbert was in fine scoring form in the third round.
Michael Holt vs Zhou Yuelong
In 2025, Michael Holt missed out on a return to the Crucible in a Judgement Day defeat to Fan Zhengyi.
Fast forward 12 months and it’s another difficult opponent from China standing in his way in the form of Zhou Yuelong, who has made only three career appearances in the main draw.
Jiang Jun vs Stan Moody
There is a lot of expectation around Stan Moody as if he is the leading hope for the next generation of players from the UK.
Moody doesn’t lack confidence, but he will be the favourite against Jiang Jun and it’ll be interesting to see how he copes with that pressure as he chases a maiden Crucible berth.
Antoni Kowalski vs Jamie Jones
What a match this is for Antoni Kowalski, whose two victories so far in the competition have cruelly only elevated him to 65th in the provisional end-of-season rankings – just below the cut-off point for tour safety.
Reaching the Crucible for the first time could protect the Pole’s professional status, but former quarter-finalist Jamie Jones isn’t totally safe in the rankings either so will be just as motivated to qualify again.
Jackson Page vs Pang Junxu
Jackson Page and Pang Junxu each have experience of reaching the last 16 of a World Snooker Championship.
This year, one of them will bow out before the main event even gets under way, with Page having won all three of their prior bouts on the World Snooker Tour.
Noppon Saengkham vs Liam Pullen
Liam Pullen caused one of the upsets of the qualifying tournament by knocking out recent World Open champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
His reward is a Judgement Day date against another popular player from Thailand, with Noppon Saengkham attempting to reach the last 32 for the first time since 2023.
Judgement Day: Wednesday, April 15
Session 1: 11:00 BST. Session 2: 17:00 BST
Jak Jones vs Luca Brecel
Whether a fine 10-8 victory for Luca Brecel over the dangerous Chang Bingyu will have any lasting impact on his confidence is anyone’s guess.
The Belgian – the world champion a mere three years ago – would be missed if he doesn’t qualify, but 2024 runner-up Jak Jones is hardly an easy final challenge to overcome.
Brecel is 4/5 to beat Jones and has odds of around 33/1 to win the title, with this betting guide providing more information on the best sportsbooks that are available online.
Lei Peifan vs Ryan Day
Lei Peifan inflicted the Curse of the Crucible on reigning first-time world champion Kyren Wilson in a memorable opening-day showdown last year.
To secure an immediate return, Lei will have to oust one of the most experienced players involved in the final round – three-time World Championship quarter-finalist Ryan Day.
Xu Si vs Gary Wilson
Gary Wilson was the most convincing winner in the third round, thrashing Allan Taylor 10-1 at the English Institute of Sport.
Wilson has slipped down the rankings of late so would obviously prefer to finish the 2025/26 campaign strongly, but Xu Si prevailed the last time the pair crossed paths on the main tour.
Zak Surety vs Zhang Anda
When Zak Surety reached the semi-finals of the 2025 World Open and then also qualified for the World Championship, many thought his stock was on the rise.
It hasn’t quite turned out that way this season, and the overal consistency of Zhang Anda would suggest that the Chinese competitor is the favourite here.
Ali Carter vs Anthony McGill
At one point during his penultimate-round match with Martin O’Donnell, Anthony McGill trailed 9-4 and was 69-0 down in the 14th frame.
Somehow the Scot lived to fight another day, but it doesn’t get any easier with two-time former finalist and six-time ranking event winner Ali Carter up next.
Liam Highfield vs Oliver Lines
An all-English battle of tour stalwarts who have reputations as being journeymen points to a contest that could potentially go late.
Lines will be experiencing the pressures of Judgement Day for the first time, but Highfield has qualified for the Crucible on three occasions so might have the edge.
Fan Zhengyi vs Ben Mertens
Ben Mertens began the qualifiers looking over his shoulder in the rankings, but his tour status looks to now be safely secured.
That will free him up in his attempt to qualify for the Crucible for the first time, with Fan Zhengyi attempting to reach the iconic venue for the third time in four years.
He Guoqiang vs Jack Lisowski
There were moments in the third round when Jack Lisowski appeared like he might be struggling to see off the challenge of amateur Umut Dikme.
But emerge successfully he did, and the Northern Ireland Open champion would be an obvious player who the top seeds would want to avoid should he manage to outlast He Guoqiang on Judgement Day.
2026 World Snooker Championship qualifiers
Judgement Day 1
Stuart Bingham 7-10 Matthew Stevens
Hossein Vafaei 10-4 Gao Yang
Aaron Hill 6-10 David Gilbert
Michael Holt 4-10 Zhou Yuelong
Jiang Jun 9-10 Stan Moody
Antoni Kowalski 10-8 Jamie Jones
Jackson Page 8-10 Pang Junxu
Noppon Saengkham 8-10 Liam Pullen
Judgement Day 2
Jak Jones 10-5 Luca Brecel
Lei Peifan 10-5 Ryan Day
Xu Si 9-10 Gary Wilson
Zak Surety 3-10 Zhang Anda
Ali Carter 10-7 Anthony McGill
Liam Highfield 10-2 Oliver Lines
Fan Zhengyi 10-4 Ben Mertens
He Guoqiang 10-5 Jack Lisowski
How to watch Judgement Day snooker
Roving coverage of Judgement Day at the 2026 World Snooker Championship qualifiers is available through a free subscription at WST Play.
There are other options available through official broadcasting channels globally, with a full rundown available at the WST website.
Featured photo credit: WST
‘players who have survived from the opening round of the qualifiers’
Is there a list of players who’ve ‘survived’ all the way to the Crucible? — including how well they did there? — given that the latter stages of qualifying are stacked with experienced tour players, it’s quite a feat to make it all the way through.
The repeat matchup Aaron Hill vs David Gilbert is both odd and unfortunate — I’m sure neither is happy to play the other again — I think it’s possible to avoid repeat last 32 fixtures like that, and still have a ‘random’ draw.
It feels like it’s time for Stan Moody to make it to the Crucible — this seems like a good chance.
Truly incredible comeback for Anthony McGill; on the other hand an epic collapse by Martin O’Donnell.
Ben Woollaston just missed out on Judgement Day — it looks like he has been to the Crucible only 2x in his long career — he’s one of the more or less competitively anonymous journeyman players on the tour who somehow always manages to finish in the top 64, yet you often wonder how, since it’s uncommon to see him in the latter stages of tour events.
A number of interesting matches, but will be especially watching the Stan Moody contest plus Jak Jones vs Luca Brecel.
I count 9 Chinese players in the last 32.
That list must be out there somewhere, but I’m not sure. Zhao is the most obvious one from last year of course.
I assume you mean Zhao Xintong.
Yes, but he’s a bit of an outlier, as his quality was known — he’d already won a Triple Crown event, plus another ranking event — he had to go all the way thru qualifying as an amateur only due to his suspension.
>I count 9 Chinese players in the last 32.
They were 2-2 on the first day — on the second day, the remaining 5 Chinese players have so far won 4 matches, but the Chinese player is behind in the one still undecided match involving a Chinese player — if that holds, their record in Judgement Day matches will be 6-3 (4-1 on the second day).
Adding the Chinese players already in the top 16 (5), that means 11 Chinese players among the 32 who will begin WC play on Saturday.
There was plenty of drama in the qualifying rounds yesterday with Oliver Lines and Ben Woollasten both needing the black ball in the 15th frame. I must say Oliver Lines seems to have a very calm temperament and may just be coming into his own. Anthony Mcgill came from sure defeat at 4-9 with 6 consecutive frames to snatch victory from disgusted Martin O’Donnell.
Also Ali Carter seemed to wake up from a deep sleep to win 8, yes I said 8 consecutive frames to leave Julien Leclercq mesmerized. I am starting to get the hang of this as I concur with Dave Caulfield that Ben Mertens could very well have saved himself from losing his tour card.
Sadly they have gone for Bingham-Stevens on Table 1. Whilst I have great respect for those players’ achievements and skills, the story of these qualifiers has been the emergence of younger players, and this is an ideal opportunity to promote them. In that regard Jiang-Moody is a stand-out tie, not least because of the incredible match they played in the World Open. Jiang is stronger technically, but Moody has more all-round skills. However, what could prove decisive is that Moody will have very powerful and vocal support, whereas Jiang will have many against him. On my statistical rankings, Jiang is currently a remarkable 21st in the World, whilst Moody is 29th, so it is very close.
The roaming coverage is very welcome, and gets better every year. This kind of media presentation is important for the future, and has been used by some Huya streamers for several years. for
I am just watching Moody – Jiang. Yes Jiang Jun is a good player but bloody annoying to watch. I am counting, he least chalks his cue no less than 6 times a shot, at one point during a break he sat down and wiped his hands and stick, and the biggest nonsense was that he kept wiping his cue while Moody was playing, the guy is a basket case. I hope Stan Moody ruins Jun’s day.
Jiang Jun is down 74-6…..decides to play on……get up to 28…..gets one partial snooker…..misses his next attempt at planting a snooker…throws cue on table and leaves. 4-3 for Moody after winning last 3 frames.
Loved the qualifiers as usual. My favourite such as Fu, and new favs such as Revesz, Leclercq & Dikme did not make it & I think Holty will fall short (looking as if he’s going 6-3 behind now in r4)! Bored of the usual older players in the qualifiers tbh, great to see some young talent and even older, but fresher faces. I was hoping for a few different faces in the final round, but oh well. Some anger has been shown too, a few players are now getting bruised knuckles from thumping the cushions (or rails to our American friends lol). Loved the commentary by… is it, Dave Hendon? Joe Johnson is good too. Hopefully Walker will not need to commentate even when they are desperate for a commentator lol – Mr Caulfield – fancy some commentating?
I was approached once by an Irish-language channel to do some. Unfortunately, my Irish wasn’t/isn’t up to much so I had to pass. That is as close as I’ve come.
I’m not totally convinced that Jiang has the better technique as too often he’s hitting the ball a little too hard. The Moody support could definitely be heard.
Stevens/Bingham was a huge tie given there pedigree. The Welshman is very popular with a certain generation of snooker follower. He returns for a 19th Crucible appearance, and his first for four years.
Aaron Hill’s exit means no player from the Republic of Ireland has featured at the Crucible since Fergal O’Brien in 2017.
Yes, Jiang has issues to deal with, which affect his match play. Actually, he’s pretty close to what I would call the ultimate technical player – everything is absolutely drilled and meticulous.
He’s had a lot of hate on social media. That’s not completely undeserved, but still quite harsh for a 20-year old. Ironically, Stan Moody himself went through a similar phase a couple of years ago.