World Snooker Championship 2026

Edit: The official WST site says Anton Kowalski has already done enough to stay on the tour. As they are the official site I'll have to assume that they're correct and he doesn't have to win on his Crucible debut to remain a professional.

(14-04-2026 18:41 )Snooks Wrote:  Judgement Day One

Zhou Yuelong has seen off Michael Holt 10-4 to qualify for the first round proper.

YES!

Quote:The Matthew Stevens wait for a return to The Crucible is over after he battled past Stuart Bingham 10-7.

Double YES!

The qualifiers bring a drama and a tension all of their own. It's been gripping viewing on the WST site this evening.

Judgement Day Two:

Zhang Anda has blasted his way through to the main draw with a 10-3 demolition of Zak Surety. He hit 5 centuries in a sensational display that also featured 4 other breaks over 60.
Fan Zhengyi is heading to The Crucible after a 10-4 victory over Ben Mertens.
Liam Highfield is through after a 10-2 rout of Oliver Lines.
Jak Jones produced a magnificent performance of 5 centuries and 5 half centuries to overcome Luca Brecel 10-5.
He Guoqiang stayed strong to knock out Jack Lisowski and will make a debut appearance at the home of snooker.
Lei Peifan will be the record breaking 11th Chinese player in the main draw after beating Ryan Day 10-5.
Ali Carter won the last five frames from a 5-7 deficit to overhaul Anthony McGill in a tough battle 10-7.
The 32nd and final man into the draw is Gary Wilson. He survived a mighty fightback to prevail in a decider. Wilson led 7-2 then trailed 8-9 against Xu Si before eventuality sealing glory with a quite brilliant break of 126 to reach the promised land.

(15-04-2026 18:21 )Snooks Wrote:  Judgement Day Two:

Jak Jones produced a magnificent performance of 5 centuries and 5 half centuries to overcome Luca Brecel 10-5.

Wow!

Quote:He Guoqiang stayed strong to knock out Jack Lisowski and will make a debut appearance at the home of snooker.

Double Wow!

There was selective live coverage of Judgement Day on Youtube and I was watching Xu Si V Gary Wilson. When Xu was 44-0 up in frame 18 I thought Wilson was a goner, but he managed to claim victory from the jaws of defeat. The commentator send that if Xu won there would be an even more record breaking 12th Chinaman playing at the Crucible, but still, 11 is impressive and it is a record. It was a nice touch seeing a Chinese referee. She flew all the way from China to referee at Judgement Day, and must have made the Chinese players feel at home.

I feel a bit disappointed that Luca went out. I saw highlights on Youtube of his 120 break in the previous round against Chang Bingyu. He was playing some naughty snooker to clear the colours. He fluked the green, and the brown, and nearly fluked the black to make it 127. Absolutely hilarious!

First Round Draw (seeds in brackets)

Zhao Xintong (1) v Liam Highfield
Ding Junhui (16) v David Gilbert
Xiao Guodong (9) v Zhou Yuelong
Shaun Murphy (8) v Fan Zhengyi
John Higgins (5) v Ali Carter
Ronnie O'Sullivan (12) v He Guoqiang
Chris Wakelin (13) v Liam Pullen
Neil Robertson (4) v Pang Junxu

-----------------------------------------------------------

Kyren Wilson (3) v Stan Moody
Mark Allen (14) v Zhang Anda
Barry Hawkins (11) v Matthew Stevens
Mark Williams (6) v Antoni Kowalski
Mark Selby (7) v Jak Jones
Wu Yize (10) v Lei Peifan
Si Jiahui (15) v Hossein Vafaei
Judd Trump (2) v Gary Wilson

Interesting cross-section. English men still the largest number, but Chinamen catching up. It would have been 12-12 if Xu Si had won last night.

I make the spread of nationalities:
13 Englishmen (Tubbs is from Harlow, Essex)
11 Chinamen
3 Welshmen
1 Scotsman
1 man from Northern Ireland
1 man from Australia
1 Polish man
1 Iranian

The tie I'm most looking forward to is Judd v Gary Wilson. Hossein Vafaei's form seems to have gone up in leaps and bounds since the Iran War, he might be one to watch the way he's been going recently.

(16-04-2026 08:53 )Snooks Wrote:  First Round Draw (seeds in brackets)

Ronnie v Lisowski should have been epochal... and Gary Wilson probably wonders why he bothered so hard getting through...

Stan playing a recent World champ is a big result. Ditto Kowalski.

Tie of the round has to be Selby v Jones.
If Jak plays anything like how he did on judgement day then the Jester could be in a world of bother.

Mark Allen in a similar boat based on Zhang Anda's qualifying form.

Intrigued to see see Guodong v Yuelong. That could go very close.