The 2026 World Snooker Championship takes place on the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from 18 April to 4 May – and you may watch each shot of the event reside on the BBC.
Zhao Xintong, who turned the primary champion from China by beating Mark Williams in final yr’s remaining, acquired the 17-day event underneath method towards qualifier Liam Highfield on Saturday.
Zhao is certainly one of a document 11 Chinese gamers within the discipline of 32, beating the earlier excessive of 10 from final yr.
Ronnie O’Sullivan hopes to win a document eighth world title on the age of fifty – 25 years after claiming his first – to lastly transfer away from Stephen Hendry because the championship’s most profitable participant.
World primary Judd Trump goals to raise the trophy for the second time, whereas different contenders embody four-time champions Mark Selby and John Higgins, three-time winner Mark Williams and 2024 champion Kyren Wilson.
There are 4 debutants together with England’s Stan Moody, 19, and Liam Pullen, 20.
This yr is the fiftieth championship to be held on the Crucible because the event moved to Sheffield in 1977.
The two-day remaining begins on 3 May, with the winner taking house £500,000.
