World Seniors Snooker Championship draw revealed as debutant Ronnie O'Sullivan discovers fate

The annual blue riband event on the World Seniors Snooker Tour takes place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield between May 6-10 - just days after the professional version is completed at the iconic venue.

Set to be the biggest and best edition of the tournament, ever, this year’s field has been expanded from 16 to 24, with two tables initially in operation at the Crucible.

Eligibility rules on the seniors tour have recently changed, too, meaning anyone aged 40 or over - regardless of their status or professional ranking within the sport - is permitted to play.

There is a significant boost in the prize fund this year with the champion set to pocket £30,000. For fans in the UK, the five days of green baize action from South Yorkshire will be covered by terrestrial station Channel 5 on its main and secondary channels. There will also be a simulcast, with Pluto TV mirroring 5’s coverage on its platforms which is available to viewers in a plethora of countries.

How does the World Seniors Championship draw work, who is playing in it?

With there being 24 players in the main draw, a preliminary round is required this year.

The top eight seeds all go straight through to the last 16 where they will meet the winners of the preliminary round matches.

Reigning and defending world seniors champion Alfie Burden is the number one seed at the top of the draw, whilst current British Seniors Open champion Joe Perry is the number two seed at the bottom.

The other top eight seeding berths have been determined by the world professional rankings with Mark Williams the number three seed, and Ronnie O’Sullivan being the fourth.

Stuart Bingham, Ali Carter, Matthew Stevens and Robert Milkins - all of whom currently still ply their trades on the professional tour - are the remaining top seeds who all get a pass to round two.

For the preliminary round featuring the other 16 players, there were two bags of balls, with Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, and Reanne Evans amongst those seeded for that phase.

The 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship is set to be a continental affair with representation from four different continents, with contestants having qualified from various international pathways.

What is the draw, who is playing who?

The draw was made live on Channel 5’s The Jeremy Vine Show on Wednesday morning with former world number three Neal Foulds conducting proceedings along with presenter Vine.

The top eight seeds were already fixed into the draw bracket with Foulds and Vine drawing out the first round matches.

Title holder Burden could meet the winner of the crown from two years, Igor Figueiredo, if the Brazilian gets past African qualifier Mohamed Elkhayat from Egypt.

O’Sullivan, who turned 50 years of age last December, will make his seniors bow against either former practice partner Doherty, or Gerard Greene in what will be a Republic versus Northern Ireland meeting.

Following over a decade away from the seniors scene, Williams will be back in action; he won the world seniors title in 2015. The Welshman - who has pledged to donate any prize money he wins - will share the baize with either Craig Steadman or Neal Jones.

The other former world professional champion in the draw is Stuart Bingham, and he’ll face very experienced opposition first up in either Peter Lines or Anthony Hamilton.

At the time of writing, several players in the draw could complete an unprecedented double of winning both the professional and seniors world titles within the same year, that applies to Ali Carter (plays either Tony Drago/Roger Farebrother) and Matthew Stevens (plays either Dominic Dale/Wayne Townsend).

Another cueist aiming for a double date at the Crucible in the coming weeks is Robert Milkins - he could play record four-time world seniors champion Jimmy White if ‘The Whirlwind’ negotiates the winner of the upcoming Golden Ticket qualifying event.

At the foot of the draw, Perry - going for a British and world seniors double - plays either 12-times world women’s champion Reanne Evans or former world seniors champion Aaron Canavan.