2026 World Open (snooker)

2026 World Open

Tournament information
Dates	16–22 March 2026 (2026-03-16 – 2026-03-22)
City	Yushan
Country	China
Organisation	World Snooker Tour
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£825,000
Winner's share	£175,000
Defending champion	John Higgins  (SCO)
← 2025

The 2026 World Open is an upcoming professional snooker tournament that will take place from 16 to 22 March 2026 in Yushan, China. Qualifiers took place from 10 to 12 February at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. The 11th edition of the tournament since it was rebranded as the World Open in 2010, it will be the 16th ranking event of the 2025‍–‍26 snooker season, following the 2026 Welsh Open and preceding the 2026 Tour Championship. The winner will receive £175,000 from a total prize fund of £825,000.

John Higgins will be the defending champion, having defeated Joe O'Connor 10‍–‍6 in the 2025 final.

Overview

The World Open originated in 1982 as the Professional Players Tournament, of which the inaugural winner was Ray Reardon, who defeated Jimmy White 10–5 in the final. ^[1] Staged as the Grand Prix from 1984 to 2000, the LG Cup from 2001 to 2003, and the Grand Prix from 2004 to 2009, the tournament was rebranded as the World Open in 2010. Until 2004, the tournament was played in England, and from 2005 to 2010, it was held in Scotland. ^{[2] [3]} No edition was staged in 2011, and in 2012 the tournament moved to China. Editions from 2012 to 2014 were staged in Haikou, but the tournament was not held in 2015 after the contract with the promoter was not renewed. ^[4] In 2016, the World Open moved to Yushan. Cancelled from 2020 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament returned to the calendar for the 2024 edition. ^[5]

The 2026 edition of the tournament—its 11th staging since it became the World Open in 2010—will take place from 16 to 22 March in Yushan, China. ^[6] Qualifiers took place from 10 to 12 February at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. ^[7] It will be the 16th ranking event of the 2025‍–‍26 snooker season, following the 2026 Welsh Open and preceding the 2026 Tour Championship. ^[8] John Higgins will be the defending champion, having defeated Joe O'Connor 10‍–‍6 in the 2025 final. ^[9]

Format

All 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 a best of 19-frame match played over two sessions .

Broadcasters

The qualifying matches played in Barnsley were broadcast in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Austria by Discovery+ and in other European territories by HBO Max. They are being broadcast in mainland China by the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin, Huya Live, and Migu  [ zh ]. In all other territories (including Ireland) they are being streamed by WST Play. ^[10]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below: ^[11]

• Winner: £175,000
• Runner-up: £75,000
• Semi-final: £33,000
• Quarter-final: £22,000
• Last 16: £14,000
• Last 32: £9,000
• Last 64: £5,000
• Highest break: £5,000

• Total: £825,000

Summary

Qualifying round

Two-time World Open winner Mark Allen, who had claimed consecutive titles in 2012 and 2013, made two century breaks of 124 and 108 as he defeated Louis Heathcote 5–2. Shaun Murphy trailed Chatchapong Nasa 1–2 but recovered to win 5–3. Stephen Maguire produced a break of 140 as he beat Sanderson Lam 5–1. Stuart Bingham advanced with a whitewash win over Ng On-yee, and Artemijs Žižins also recorded a whitewash victory over Jamie Jones. He Guoqiang made a century of 104 to win the deciding frame against Amir Sarkhosh. Antoni Kowalski won the first four frames against Liu Hongyu, but Liu also won four consecutive frames, tying the scores at 4–4. Kowalski made a 90 break to win the decider. ^[12]

Qualifying

Qualifiers were held from 10 to 12 February 2026 at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. Qualifying matches involving the defending champion John Higgins, the reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong, the world number one Judd Trump, the seven-time World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, the next two highest-ranked Chinese players (Xiao Guodong and Zhang Anda), and four Chinese wildcards were held over to be played at the main venue in Yushan. ^[13]

Pre-qualifying

The following match is a pre-qualifier and will be played at the main venue in Yushan:

•   Mitchell Mann  (ENG) (80) v  Wildcard (CHN)

Held-over matches

The following matches will be played at the main venue in Yushan:

•   John Higgins  (SCO) (1) v   Liam Highfield  (ENG) (89)
•   Zhao Xintong  (CHN) (2) v  Wildcard (CHN)
•   Judd Trump  (ENG) (3) v   Chris Totten  (SCO) (98)
•   Xiao Guodong  (CHN) (10) v   Ben Mertens  (BEL) (67)
•   Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG) (11) v   Ross Muir  (SCO) (105)
•   Zhang Anda  (CHN) (23) v  Wildcard (CHN)
•   Jackson Page  (WAL) (34) v  Wildcard (CHN)
•   Ricky Walden  (ENG) (49) v Winner of Pre-qualifier

Qualifying round

The results of the qualifying matches played in Barnsley are as follows: ^{[14] [15]}

•   Kyren Wilson  (ENG) (4) 5–0   Alexander Ursenbacher  (SUI) (115)
•   Mark Williams  (WAL) (6) 5–0   Kreishh Gurbaxani  (IND) (120)
•   Mark Selby  (ENG) (7) 5–4   Haydon Pinhey  (ENG) (90)
•   Shaun Murphy  (ENG) (8) 5–3   Chatchapong Nasa  (THA) (112)
•   Mark Allen  (NIR) (9) 5–2   Louis Heathcote  (ENG) (72)
•   Ding Junhui  (CHN) (12) 2–5  Marco Fu  (HKG) (92)
•   Wu Yize  (CHN) (13) 5–2   Liam Pullen  (ENG) (82)
•   Barry Hawkins  (ENG) (14) 5–3   Duane Jones  (WAL) (70)
•   Chris Wakelin  (ENG) (15) 5–1   Mink Nutcharut  (THA) (118)
•   Si Jiahui  (CHN) (16) 3–5  Zhao Hanyang  (CHN) (107)
•   Stuart Bingham  (ENG) (17) 5–0   Ng On-yee  (HKG) (119)
•   Gary Wilson  (ENG) (18) 5–1   Farakh Ajaib  (PAK) (78)
•   Jak Jones  (WAL) (19) 5–1   Sahil Nayyar  (CAN) (123)
•   Ali Carter  (ENG) (20) 5–2   Jimmy White  (ENG) (121)
•   Elliot Slessor  (ENG) (21) 5–2   Bai Yulu  (CHN) (102)
•   Jack Lisowski  (ENG) (22) 5–2   Gong Chenzhi  (CHN) (69)
•   David Gilbert  (ENG) (24) 5–3   Connor Benzey  (ENG) (117)
•   Stephen Maguire  (SCO) (25) 5–1   Sanderson Lam  (ENG) (66)
•   Joe O'Connor  (ENG) (26) 3–5  Liu Wenwei  (CHN) (108)
•   Pang Junxu  (CHN) (27) 4–5  Sam Craigie  (ENG) (87)
•   Tom Ford  (ENG) (28) 4–5  Allan Taylor  (ENG) (73)
•   Lei Peifan  (CHN) (29) 5–0   Michał Szubarczyk  (POL) (96)
•   Zhou Yuelong  (CHN) (30) 5–0   Dylan Emery  (WAL) (93)
•   Yuan Sijun  (CHN) (31) 2–5  David Grace  (ENG) (94)
•   Hossein Vafaei  (IRN) (32) 5–2   Lan Yuhao  (CHN) (95)
•   Jimmy Robertson  (ENG) (33) 3–5  Cheung Ka Wai  (HKG) (83)
•   Ryan Day  (WAL) (35) 5–3   Jordan Brown  (NIR) (65)
•   Ben Woollaston  (ENG) (36) 3–5  Yao Pengcheng  (CHN) (103)
•   Matthew Selt  (ENG) (37) 5–4   Liam Davies  (WAL) (76)
•   Xu Si  (CHN) (38) 5–1   Mahmoud El Hareedy  (EGY) (125)
•   Daniel Wells  (WAL) (39) 5–4   Robbie McGuigan  (NIR) (86)
•   Noppon Saengkham  (THA) (40) 3–5  Steven Hallworth  (ENG) (91)
•   Thepchaiya Un-Nooh  (THA) (41) 5–0   Mohammed Shehab  (UAE) (114)
•   Aaron Hill  (IRL) (42) 5–0   Haris Tahir  (PAK) (88)
•   Luca Brecel  (BEL) (43) 5–4   Mateusz Baranowski  (POL) (106)
•   He Guoqiang  (CHN) (44) 5–4   Amir Sarkhosh  (IRN) (77)
•   Anthony McGill  (SCO) (45) 5–3   Leone Crowley  (IRL) (113)
•   Zak Surety  (ENG) (46) 5–1   Huang Jiahao  (CHN) (84)
•   Martin O'Donnell  (ENG) (47) 5–1   Jonas Luz  (BRA) (111)
•   Matthew Stevens  (WAL) (48) 5–1   Fergal Quinn  (NIR) (122)
•   Stan Moody  (ENG) (50) 5–4   Jiang Jun  (CHN) (79)
•   Scott Donaldson  (SCO) (51) 4–5  Xu Yichen  (CHN) (109)
•   Long Zehuang  (CHN) (52) 5–2   Liam Graham  (SCO) (104)
•   David Lilley  (ENG) (53) 5–0   Reanne Evans  (ENG) (101)
•   Lyu Haotian  (CHN) (54) 5–3   Gao Yang  (CHN) (100)
•   Robbie Williams  (ENG) (55) 5–3   Wang Yuchen  (HKG) (68)
•   Fan Zhengyi  (CHN) (56) 2–5  Julien Leclercq  (BEL) (74)
•   Robert Milkins  (ENG) (57) 3–5  Iulian Boiko  (UKR) (81)
•   Oliver Lines  (ENG) (58) 3–5  Florian Nüßle  (AUT) (124)
•   Liu Hongyu  (CHN) (59) 4–5  Antoni Kowalski  (POL) (71)
•   Michael Holt  (ENG) (60) 5–2   Ken Doherty  (IRL) (99)
•   Jamie Jones  (WAL) (61) 0–5  Artemijs Žižins  (LAT) (75)
•   Chang Bingyu  (CHN) (62) 5–0   Hatem Yassen  (EGY) (110)
•   Ishpreet Singh Chadha  (IND) (63) 5–2   Bulcsú Révész  (HUN) (85)
•   Mark Davis  (ENG) (64) 1–5  Ian Burns  (ENG) (97)
•  Umut Dikme (GER) (a) 5–4   Oliver Brown  (ENG) (116)

Century breaks

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 32 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament in Barnsley. ^[16]

• 141, 114 – Gao Yang
• 141 – Scott Donaldson
• 140 – Stephen Maguire
• 137 – Haydon Pinhey
• 135 – Robbie Williams
• 134 – Tom Ford
• 132 – Jak Jones
• 131 – Wu Yize
• 126 – Jiang Jun
• 126 – Julien Leclercq
• 124, 108 – Mark Allen
• 123, 108 – Ian Burns
• 121, 117 – Lan Yuhao
• 120 – Anthony McGill
• 118, 102 – Sam Craigie
• 116 – Marco Fu
• 115 – Jack Lisowski
• 115 – Zak Surety
• 115 – Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
• 114 – Liam Pullen
• 113 – Zhou Yuelong
• 107 – Aaron Hill
• 105 – Cheung Ka Wai
• 105 – Fan Zhengyi
• 104 – He Guoqiang
• 103 – Si Jiahui
• 100 – Chang Bingyu

References

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2. Turner, Chris. "Brief History of the World Open". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
3. Turner, Chris. "A brief history of the Grand Prix and LG Cup (Formerly the Professional Players Tournament)". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
4. "World Open removed from calendar". World Snooker Tour . 7 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
5. "Snooker's resurgence in China continues with Yushan to stage World Open". World Snooker Tour . 18 August 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
6. "Tournaments 2025–26". World Snooker Tour . Retrieved 20 July 2025.
7. "World Open Qualifiers 2026". snooker.org. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
8. "Calendar 2025/2026". snooker.org. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
9. "Higgins wins World Open for first title in four years". BBC Sport . 1 March 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
10. "How to watch World Open qualifiers". World Snooker Tour . 9 February 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
11. "World Open". World Snooker Tour . Retrieved 2 February 2026.
12. "Allen and Murphy through to Yushan". World Snooker Tour . 10 February 2026. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
13. Day, Michael (9 February 2026). "2026 World Open qualifiers explained: Who is playing and what is the format?". Totally Snookered. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
14. "World Open Qualifiers 2026 - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
15. "World Open 2026 Qualifiers". World Snooker Tour . Retrieved 12 February 2026.
16. "Centuries: World Open qualifiers - 32". snookerinfo.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2026.