The 2026 International Championship qualifiers take place in Leicester this week, with the majority of the field bidding to secure their places at the main stages in Nanjing.
The qualifiers are the second in a three-leg swing at the Mattioli Arena, coming immediately after the recently concluded Northern Ireland Open qualifiers and ahead of the Scottish Open qualifiers that begin on Sunday.
Most players enter the competition at the Round of 128 stage, with all qualifying matches played over the best of 11 frames.
When are the 2026 International Championship qualifiers?
The 2026 International Championship qualifiers will be held from Thursday September 17 to Saturday September 19 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.
The main stages will then take place from October 31 to November 7 in Nanjing, China.
International Championship prize money
Winner: £175,000
Runner-up: £75,000
Semi-finals: £33,000
Quarter-finals: £22,000
Last 16: £14,000
Last 32: £9,000
Last 64: £5,000
High Break: £5,000
Total: £825,000
Who is in the draw?
Most of the leading players are involved in the qualifying stages, although Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen have both withdrawn from the event.
Defending champion Wu Yize will have his qualifying match with Hammad Miah held over to the venue stages.
World number one Zhao Xintong, Chinese legend Ding Junhui, and England’s Judd Trump will also have their qualifying matches held over.
There are several intriguing ties in qualifying, including a meeting between two former World Championship runners-up as Matthew Stevens takes on Jimmy White.
Alfie Burden faces Stuart Bingham in a repeat of last season’s Shoot Out final, while recent English Open champion Ali Carter meets Anton Kazakov.
2026 International Championship qualifiers draw
Round of 131 (bo11)
Michal Szubarczyk vs Wildcard (Held over)
Liu Wenwei vs Wildcard (Held over)
Steven Hallworth vs Wildcard (Held over)
Round of 128 (bo11)
Wu Yize vs Hammad Miah (Held over)
Robbie Williams vs Gong Chenzhi (Thu 17 Sep, 09:30)
Stephen Maguire vs Mateusz Baranowski (Thu 17 Sep, 09:30)
Jackson Page vs To be decided (Held over)
Ding Junhui vs Sahil Nayyar (Held over)
Jordan Brown vs Gao Yang (Thu 17 Sep, 14:30)
Zhang Anda vs Artemijs Zizins (Thu 17 Sep, 09:30)
Jimmy Robertson vs Huang Jiahao (Thu 17 Sep, 09:30)
Ben Woollaston vs Sean O’Sullivan (Thu 17 Sep, 14:30)
Elliot Slessor vs Yao Pengcheng (Thu 17 Sep, 09:30)
Oliver Lines vs Connor Benzey (Thu 17 Sep, 14:30)
Xiao Guodong vs Dylan Emery (Fri 18 Sep, 14:30)
Ryan Day vs Liam Graham (Thu 17 Sep, 14:30)
Lei Peifan vs Iulian Boiko (Thu 17 Sep, 09:30)
Ben Mertens vs Liam Highfield (Thu 17 Sep, 14:30)
Kyren Wilson vs Leone Crowley (Thu 17 Sep, 14:30)
Judd Trump vs To be decided (Held over)
Fan Zhengyi vs To be decided (Held over)
Pang Junxu vs Wildcard (Held over)
Zak Surety vs Mina Awad (Thu 17 Sep, 19:30)
Barry Hawkins vs Oliver Sykes (Thu 17 Sep, 09:30)
Ricky Walden vs Paul Norris (Thu 17 Sep, 19:30)
Zhou Yuelong vs Ashley Hugill (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Anthony McGill vs Liam Davies (Sat 19 Sep, 14:30)
Tom Ford vs David Grace (Thu 17 Sep, 19:30)
Si Jiahui vs Liu Yang (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
Liu Hongyu vs Lan Yuhao (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Joshua Thomond vs Louis Heathcote (Thu 17 Sep, 19:30)
He Guoqiang vs Stuart Carrington (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Hossein Vafaei vs Cheung Ka Wai (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Matthew Stevens vs Jimmy White (Thu 17 Sep, 19:30)
Mark Selby vs Luo Zetao (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Neil Robertson vs Alexander Ursenbacher (Thu 17 Sep, 19:30)
Jiang Jun vs Florian Nuessle (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Jak Jones vs Liam Pullen (Thu 17 Sep, 19:30)
David Gilbert vs Wang Xinbo (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Jack Lisowski vs Ashley Carty (Fri 18 Sep, 19:30)
Martin O’Donnell vs Julien Leclercq (Fri 18 Sep, 14:30)
Stuart Bingham vs Alfie Burden (Thu 17 Sep, 14:30)
Michael Holt vs Marco Fu (Fri 18 Sep, 14:30)
Luca Brecel vs Jamie Clarke (Fri 18 Sep, 14:30)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Chatchapong Nasa (Fri 18 Sep, 09:30)
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Deng Haohui (Fri 18 Sep, 14:30)
Mark J Williams vs Andrew Higginson (Fri 18 Sep, 14:30)
Xu Si vs Xu Yichen (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
Gary Wilson vs Ng On Yee (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
Lyu Haotian vs Mahmoud El Hareedy (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
John Higgins vs Craig Steadman (Fri 18 Sep, 19:30)
Shaun Murphy vs Zhao Hanyang (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
Jamie Jones vs Mitchell Mann (Fri 18 Sep, 14:30)
Joe O’Connor vs Bai Yulu (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
Yuan Sijun vs Scott Donaldson (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
Chris Wakelin vs Michael Larkov (Sat 19 Sep, 14:30)
Long Zehuang vs Phil O’Kane (Fri 18 Sep, 19:30)
Chang Bingyu vs Fergal Quinn (Sat 19 Sep, 09:30)
Matthew Selt vs Ross Muir (Fri 18 Sep, 19:30)
Aaron Hill vs Antoni Kowalski (Fri 18 Sep, 19:30)
Ali Carter vs Anton Kazakov (Sat 19 Sep, 14:30)
Daniel Wells vs Oliver Brown (Fri 18 Sep, 19:30)
Duane Jones vs Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon (Sat 19 Sep, 14:30)
Stan Moody vs Panchaya Channoi (Sat 19 Sep, 14:30)
Noppon Saengkham vs Sam Craigie (Fri 18 Sep, 19:30)
David Lilley vs Reanne Evans (Sat 19 Sep, 14:30)
Zhao Xintong vs Ian Burns (Held over)
How to watch the 2026 International Championship qualifiers
The International Championship qualifiers will be available to watch globally on WST Play, excluding China, via subscription.
Featured photo credit: WST
