Could the next snooker superstar be unearthed at the upcoming Asia-Oceania Q School?
Barely a week on since Wu Yize’s world championship title triumph at the Crucible, attention is turning to next season’s professional player roster.
The 2026 Asia-Oceania Q School takes place at the Kiatthada Billiards & Snooker Club in Bangkok, Thailand between May 13-24.
An annual fixture on the snooker circuit since 2022, two straight knockout tournaments will be played in the Thai capital city - best of seven frames matches throughout - with four two-year professional tour cards on offer.
The winning semi-finalists from both these competitions will earn promotion to the top-flight, and line-up alongside the biggest names in the sport for the 2026/27 season that is scheduled to begin next month with the qualifying rounds for the China Open and Wuhan Open, and the opening phase of the Championship League Ranking Event.
For reference, this year’s UK Q School - a concept that has been in operation since 2011 - will be held at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester between May 20-31. Eight World Snooker Tour cards are up for grabs there - four for each of the two events (the winning quarter-finalists).
BLACK BALL DECIDER FOR A PRO TOUR CARD! 🤯
— WST (@WeAreWST) May 24, 2025
🇨🇳 China’s Xu Yichen 🆚 Pakistan’s Babar Masih 🇵🇰
All on the line in the final of Asia Oceania Q School Event 2 in Bangkok — the winner claims a golden ticket to the World Snooker Tour! 🍿 pic.twitter.com/FTPdTcWeeP
Players who have graduated from the Asia-Oceania version include Dechawat Poomjaeng, Ishpreet Singh Chadha, and He Guoqiang - the latter won the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award in 2024 and recently played Ronnie O’Sullivan on his Crucible Theatre debut.
Some of the most familiar names in this year’s edition include Thailand’s Sunny Akani who won a tour card via this avenue two years ago but was relegated from the recently completed 2025/26 campaign.
Other players aiming to immediately bounce back into the big time are China’s Huang Jiahao and Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh.
Cueists looking to return to the big time after a bit of time away from it are Xing Zihao, Ma Hailong, and Bai Langning, meanwhile Thailand’s Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon - who is the youngest player to have made a maximum 147 break in professional competition having completed perfection as a 16-year-old in 2010 - is also vying for a top tier berth again.
One name to look out for is China’s Wang Xinzhong who is trying to join his older brother, Xinbo, in the professional ranks.
Xinzhong - who turned only 15-years-old last December - wrote headlines at the International Championship in November when as an invited wildcard he defeated professionals Bai Yulu and Robbie Williams before nearly causing a big upset against Shaun Murphy in the last 64.
For the draws for the 2026 Asia-Oceania Q School, visit the World Snooker Tour website here. The two players who earn tour cards from the first event will be removed from event two, with their scheduled opponents receiving byes.