Hammad Miah wins World Snooker Federation Championship and earns professional tour return

Effectively the world amateur championship these days, 32-year-old Miah from England secures a return to the professional circuit with the event carrying a two-year card for the World Snooker Tour.

A total of 195 players from 36 countries entered the nine-day event at The Hotel Marinela in the capital city. The tournament immediately followed the WSF Junior Championship that was won by Ukraine's Michael Larkov.

Miah began his campaign by winning all four of his round robin matches in Group P to finish top and qualify for the knockout rounds.

He then recorded whitewash wins in consecutive matches, dismissing Matthew Glasby (England) 4-0 with a 108 and former professional Bai Langning (China) 4-0 in the last 64 and 32 respectively.

After defeating Yu Kiu Chang (Hong Kong) 4-2 in the last 16, Miah was within one ball of elimination in the quarter-finals against opponent Yuhang Wang, taking frame six on the final black by a single point before completing a 4-3 deciding frame success.

The semi-final was a far less stressful affair for Miah who registered runs of 70, 60 and 54 in seeing off another former tour card holder in Stuart Carrington (England), 4-0.

Emerging from the other side of the draw was Chinese teenager Wang, who lost to Larkov in the Junior Championship earlier in his trip.

The 18-year-old qualified second from a very tough group consisting of current English Amateur Champion Zachary Richardson and former pro Anton Kazakov. Welsh youngster Riley Powell won the pool.

In the single elimination phase, Wang defeated Narongdat Takantong (Thailand) 4-1 and Luke Pinches (England) 4-2 before a brilliant recovery from 3-1 down to deny Dean Young (Scotland) - another ex-professional - 4-3 in the last 16 that started with a break of 119.

He wrapped up a 4-0 quarter-final win over Northern Irish teenager Joel Connolly 4-0 with a 121, and had to take the last two frames in order to oust Ryan Davies (England) 4-3 in the semi-finals.

In the final, Wang deposited the opening frame before a run of 62 helped him double his lead, although Miah (68 break, frame three) restored parity at 2-2 going into the mid-session interval.

On resumption, Wang made the highest break of the match with an 83 to edge back in front but Miah responded with a 78 as he levelled again before going ahead for the first time and reaching the hill at 4-3 up. However, Wang forced the contest all the way by taking frame eight on the final blue.

Miah got in first in the decider but an attempt to break open the reds off the black went wrong.

But later in the frame, Wang took on and missed a very risky red into a corner pocket, crashed into the reds, leaving them in a gorgeous position for Miah who kept his cool by crafting a decisive effort of 51 to be crowned champion.

Miah has spent three previous spells on the professional circuit, having first made it on to the sport's top flight in 2013. His latest relegation came last year at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

Three times Miah has reached the last 16 of a ranking event, and at the 2017 World Championship he was within three frames of qualifying for the Crucible.

At the 2023 British Open in front of the live television cameras, Miah pipped Judd Trump 4-3 on the final black in the last 64.

Earlier this season on snooker's secondary tier, Miah won the opening Q Tour event of the term that was held in Stockholm, Sweden.

Wang will be disappointed coming so close to glory in back-to-back global events, but he is well-placed to earn promotion to the professional ranks for the first time later this year due to his position on the national ranking list back home in China - a system that provides a pathway to the top tier.

To view all the results from the 2026 WSF Championships, visit snookerscores.net here.