Snooker stars compete for first trophy of season at Championship League
The player line-up and draw for the 2026 Championship League Snooker Ranking Event has been released.
The first professional title of the new snooker season will be won at the 2026 Championship League Ranking Event which takes place at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester over the coming weeks.
Returning to the World Snooker Tour for a seventh annual edition (the ranking iteration of it), the behind-closed-doors Championship League will take 21 days to complete and features a funky format consisting of four different phases.
The 128-player field is initially split into 32 round robin groups of four, with the winners of each group going into the next stage when the format is repeated with eight groups of four. Those eight group winners are then divided into two groups of four, with the winners of those facing off in a best-of-five grand final for the title.
Due to the tournament's relatively low-key nature and modest prize fund, many top players elect to skip it, although there is set to be an increase in star power for the 2026 staging that is played between June 22 to July 15.
The reigning champion is Stephen Maguire who defeated home hero Joe O'Connor in last year's final, and the Scot is set to defend his title with his opening group scheduled on Saturday 4th July.
Five of the world's top 16 are in the draw: Zhao Xintong, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Chris Wakelin, and Si Jiahui.
Projected to be the world number one later this season, 2025 World Champion Zhao is a surprise entrant with some suggesting he may have gone back home to China and stayed there until the Shanghai Masters towards the end of July. Zhao doesn't enter the fray until July 9th - the final day of phase one.
Due to his provisional ranking situation - he is projected to fall outside of the world's top 16 before the next World Championship - current Masters champion Wilson may feel this is an ideal opportunity to get a good early season result and alleviate any ranking concerns he has.
Wilson will help break off this year's event on Monday 22nd June as he competes alongside Dylan Emery, Michal Szubarczyk, and Haydon Pinhey in Group 3. Three-time world champion Williams is set for action the next day.
Cueists just outside of the elite top 16 bracket are in the mix: Jack Lisowski, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Elliot Slessor, Zhang Anda, Stuart Bingham. Winning this accolade could really help them get into that bracket later this term.
Prize money earned from the Championship League also gets added to players' one-year totals which in turn is the qualification pathway for lucrative Players Series events later in the season. Also, if not already qualified, the title winner is likely to get a spot at the prestigious Champion of Champions invitational later this year.
The Championship League seems like a good opportunity for certain players to lift their maiden professional trophy, however, from the six previous editions only Dave Gilbert in 2021 has been a first-time top-flight tournament winner. All the other champions - Kyren Wilson, Luca Brecel, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, and Maguire - had been multiple-time ranking event champions before.
In total, the overall winner of the 2026 Championship League Snooker Ranking Event will collect £33,000 when all the prizes from the various group phases are totted up.
Whilst the competition takes 21 days to complete, players will only need to feature in a maximum of three, with the grand final taking place on the evening of the third group phase.
To view the full draw and schedule, visit the Championship League Snooker website here.