2026 China Open Snooker: Draw, results, schedule, prize money, how to watch

The 2026/27 professional snooker season is now gathering pace. Following two spells of qualifying action, and Jak Jones’ maiden title triumph at the Championship League, world number one Judd Trump won the prestigious Shanghai Masters invitational title at the start of August.

This ongoing ‘Chinese swing’ on the World Snooker Tour continues, with the green baize roadshow moving to the city of Taiyuan for the first big-stage ranking tournament of the fledgling term - and it’s going to a record-breaking spectacle.

First played in 1999, there have been 18 previous editions of the China Open, although the competition has not featured on the top-flight calendar since 2019. The scheduled staging in 2020 was cancelled due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, and the event remained off the circuit - until now.

There is a significant lineage attached to the China Open. It was the first ranking title that Ronnie O’Sullivan successfully defended when he won the opening two editions in 1999 and 2000, and it has been the event where both Ding Junhui and Judd Trump claimed their maiden ranking crowns. On home soil, Ding instantly became a national hero, with his victory sparking the Chinese snooker boom and changing the course of the sport’s history forever.

Mark Williams and Mark Selby are the most decorated players in the tournament’s history; they each have three China Open titles to their names, and have featured in a further two finals. The reigning champion is Neil Robertson who won the last outing over seven years ago.

Who is playing at the 2026 China Open, how does the draw and format work?

In total, 34 players are scheduled to star in Taiyuan for the main venue, televised stages of the 2026 China Open.

The top 16 from the world rankings - who all automatically went through to the main draw - will be joined by 16 qualifiers and two Chinese amateur wildcards.

The qualifying rounds - which featured everyone else who entered the competition and consisted of four rounds - took place at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester in June. These qualifiers were tiered, too, meaning the lowest seeded players started in round one, but those positioned 17 to 48 didn’t come in until round three. For reports from the final qualifying round, visit here and here.

Qualifiers Hossein Vafaei and Anthony McGill have been drawn to face the two amateurs in a wildcard round on Saturday morning in China before round one proper (the last 32) begins later in the day.

The 2026 China Open format is almost identical to that of the current UK Championship set-up. All matches up to and including the semi-finals are the best of 11 frames, with the two-session final being the best of 19. The main event lasts nine days, with two tables in operation until the final weekend with the last four. The prize money pay-outs are also the same.

The draw bracket is as per the seedings with title holder Neil Robertson being the number one seed at the top, and reigning World Champion Wu Yize number two seed at the bottom. The remaining seeding spots are as per the world rankings, with world number one Judd Trump the third seed etc. All the world’s top 16 have entered, including Zhao Xintong and Ronnie O’Sullivan.

*Since this article was written, Mark Allen withdrew due to personal reasons

What is the tournament schedule?

• Wildcard Round: Saturday 8th August
• Round One: Saturday 8th to Tuesday 11th August
• Round Two: Wednesday 12th & Thursday 13th August
• Quarter-Finals: Friday 14th August
• Semi-Finals: Saturday 15th August
• Final: Sunday 16th August

For the daily match schedule/order of play, visit the WST website here.

What is the prize money, how much does the winner get?

The 2026 China Open will be the richest snooker event ever held in the Far East, with a total prize fund of over £1.2 million, from which £250,000 will go to the champion.

2026 China Open pay-outs:

• Champion: £250,000
• Runner-up: £100,000
• Losing semi-finalists: £50,000 (each)
• Losing quarter-finalists: £25,000 (each)
• Losers in the last 16: £15,000 (each)
• Losers in the last 32: £10,000 (each)
• Highest break: £15,000
• Total prize fund: £1,205,000

The highest break prize also applies to the qualifying rounds. At the time of writing, Michael Holt is in pole position for the bonus having made a maximum 147 break during his second qualifying round match.

How to watch the 2026 China Open

• UK and Ireland: TNT Sports and HBO Max
• Mainland Europe And Selected Countries*: Eurosport and HBO Max
• China: CCTV5, Huya, Migu, CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel (pay-per-view), CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
• Hong Kong China: Now Sports
• Malaysia: Astro Supersport
• Thailand: True Sport
• Taiwan: Sportcast
• All other territories: WST Play

*The countries which receive this coverage are: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C.I.S. (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan), Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Vatican State.