The 2026 World Grand Prix is a professional snooker tournament that is taking place from 3 to 8 February 2026 at the Kai Tak Arena, Hong Kong. It features the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list, as it stood after the 2025 Scottish Open. The 12th edition of the tournament since it was first staged in 2015, it is the 13th ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2026 German Masters and preceding the 2026 Players Championship. It is the first of three events in the Players Series, preceding the 2026 Players Championship and the 2026 Tour Championship. The tournament is being broadcast by TNT Sports and Discovery+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland, by Eurosport in mainland Europe, by local channels in Asia, and by WST Play in all other territories. The winner will receive £180,000 from a total prize fund of £700,000.
Neil Robertson was the defending champion, having defeated Stuart Bingham 10–0 in the 2025 final, but he lost 1–5 to Jak Jones in the first round. A record nine players from mainland China reached the last-16 stage, a record at any ranking event.
Overview
The World Grand Prix is a professional ranking snooker tournament that was first staged in 2015 as a non-ranking event; the inaugural champion was Judd Trump, who came from 4–7 behind to defeat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–7 in the final.[1] The tournament became a ranking event the following year. In 2019, it became one of three tournaments in the Players Series, together with the Players Championship and the Tour Championship. Held in Wales in 2015 and 2016 and in England from 2017 to 2024, the tournament moved to Hong Kong in 2025.[2]
Matches are played as the best of nine frames up to and including the quarter-finals. The semi-finals will be the best of 11 frames, and the final will be the best of 19 frames, played over two sessions .[6]
Seeding list
The tournament features the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list as it stood after the 2025 Scottish Open.[7] Unlike other events where the defending champion is seeded first, the reigning World Champion second, and the rest based on the world rankings, the qualification and seedings in the Players Series tournaments are determined by the one-year ranking list. The below list shows the top 32 players who earned the most ranking points from the beginning of the 2025–26 season until the conclusion of the 2025 Scottish Open:[8]
The tournament is being broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland by TNT Sports and Discovery+. It is being broadcast in mainland Europe by Eurosport, with streaming coverage on Discovery+ in Germany, Italy, and Austria and on HBO Max in other European territories. It is being broadcast in mainland China by Migu[zh], Huya, the CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat channel, and CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin; in Hong Kong by Now TV; in Malaysia and Brunei by Astro SuperSport; in Taiwan by Sportcast; in Thailand by TrueSports; and in the Philippines by TAP Sports. In territories where no other coverage is available, it is being broadcast by WST Play.[9]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:[10]
Xiao Guodong made a break of 87 to win the opening frame against recent 2026 Masters winner Kyren Wilson, who tied the scores with an 83 break in frame two. Xiao won frame three with an 86 break and recovered from 56 points behind to win frame four. He won frame five on the colours for a 4–1 lead. Wilson won frame six, but Xiao secured a 5–2 victory in frame seven. The result meant that Wilson would remain outside the top 16 on the one-year ranking list after the event and would not qualify to defend his title at the 2026 Players Championship. "It was very hard because [Wilson] is a top player," said Xiao afterwards. "I had to keep my concentration as there were a lot of close frames." Zhou Yuelong made a century break of 116 as he defeated Stephen Maguire, and Elliot Slessor recovered from 0–2 behind to beat the previous year's runner-up Stuart Bingham, also by 5–2 scorelines. Mark Selby made breaks of 60, 100, 82, 94, and 76 in a whitewash victory over Aaron Hill.[11]
Wu Yize trailed Anthony McGill 1–3 but made breaks of 65 and 77 to tie the scores at 3–3. In frame seven, Wu attempted a maximum break but missed a double on the last red to end the break on 112. Wu completed a 5–3 win with an 81 break in frame eight. Chang Bingyu also trailed Jack Lisowski 1–3 but recovered to win the match in a deciding frame . Zhang Anda made breaks including 57, 124, 76, and 75 as he beat Mark Williams 5–2, while Barry Hawkins made a 141 break as he defeated Ding Junhui 5–3. "Any time you beat Ding here with the support he gets is good for confidence," Hawkins commented afterwards. "I was all over the place for the first four frames, cueing terribly, I was lucky to be 2–2 rather than 3–1 down. After the interval I was more aggressive and cued a lot better. I have been up and down all season. I want to be consistently getting to the later stages."[12]
The defending champion Neil Robertson lost 1–5 to Jak Jones, who had recently returned to competition following an injury to his right hand. "The hand is still painful but it is healing well," Jones said afterwards. "I broke two of the bones and that's not an injury you want as a snooker player." The world number one Judd Trump, who had won the 2026 German Masters three days before, lost 2–5 to the world number 31 Yuan Sijun. Si Jiahui beat Gary Wilson, also by a 5–2 scoreline, while Chris Wakelin whitewashed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Ali Carter recovered from 1–3 behind to beat Mark Allen in a deciding frame, and Pang Junxu made breaks including 73, 134, and 130 as he defeated Shaun Murphy 5–1.[13]
The reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong lost two of the first three frames against John Higgins but then made breaks including 60, 121, and 73 as he took a 4–3 lead. Frame eight was decided on a re-spotted black , which Zhao potted to secure a 5–3 win. "Towards the end, [Higgins] gave me a few relatively easier chances and I managed to take them, so I think I was quite fortunate today," said Zhao afterwards. "I just tried to play in the way I normally do and stick to the style I believe in. I have confidence in my own game, and I feel that if I can perform to my normal level and show my form, then I can beat anyone." Ronnie O'Sullivan lost the first two frames against Joe O'Connor but won five of the next six, making breaks including 65, 72, and 72 as he secured a 5–3 victory. "I don't think a lack of sharpness is my problem because I have always played less tournaments than other players," said O'Sullivan afterwards. "I think my bad game is a lot worse than it used to be, and my good is not as good."[13]
Last 16
Nine players from mainland China reached the last 16 of the tournament, a record for any ranking event.[13]
Tournament draw
The draw for the tournament is shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seedings, and players in bold denote match winners. The last-32, last-16 and the quarter-finals matches are played over the best of nine frames; the semi-finals will be the best of 11 frames, and the final will be the best of 19 frames, played over two sessions .[14][15]
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