Dates and events announced for new 2025/26 professional snooker season; action starts in June with qualifiers

The professional player roster for the 2025/26 campaign is nearly complete, although 12 players will each earn two-year tour cards from the upcoming Q Schools held in Bangkok and Leicester.

The new season of top flight baize action will also start at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, with the qualifying round for the 2025 Wuhan Open scheduled to take place there between Sunday 22nd June to Tuesday 24th June.

It hasn't been officially announced, but it is expected that the format for the third edition of the Wuhan Open will remain the same with a flat 128-player draw, and several top players - such as reigning champion Xiao Guodong - having their round one matches held over to the venue in China.

The professional snooker world will continue to revolve around the Mattioli, with the Championship League Snooker Ranking Event taking place there between Monday 30th June to the Finals Day on Wednesday 23rd July (although with some break days).

Ali Carter is the current title holder having defeated Jackson Page in last year's final there, and again, the tournament will dish out the first piece of silverware of the professional season.

Just a few days later will be the start of a very important spell on the World Snooker Tour with two of the most lucrative events on the circuit.

The 2025 Shanghai Masters invitational is penned in between July 28th to August 3rd, and the second edition of the Saudi Arabia Masters is set for August 8th to 16th. World number one Judd Trump is the defending champion for both competitions.

The Tour stays in Asia for the rest of the summer, with the final rounds of the Wuhan Open at the end of August.

Three lots of qualifiers are on the menu in England for the first half of September, and the Home Nations Series starts with the English Open.

This is the tenth and final year of the Home Nations contract - we've yet to hear whether this will be extended.

The first Triple Crown event of the 2025/26 term will be the 2025 UK Championship, with the 32-player televised stages being held at the Barbican in York between November 29th to December 7th.

There is a change of venues for the Shoot Out, with the unique, time-based tournament set to return to the Circus Arena in Blackpool.

The final trophy to be lifted in 2025 looks likely to be the Scottish Open in Edinburgh, which finishes just a few days before Christmas.

2026 will start off with qualifiers and Championship League Invitational offerings before the Masters takes place at the Alexandra Palace in London between January 11th to 18th.

A few dates are still to be added to the provisional calendar, but it does appear that the three Players Series events - World Grand Prix, Players Championship, Tour Championship - will be split up.

During the season just gone, all three of these tournaments were played in succession. Despite the format differences, there was an element of repetition, so it's good to see that mixed up, and the potential for players to gate-crash their way into these via the tournaments held in between them.

The sport's blue riband event - the 2026 World Snooker Championship - will be played at the Crucible in Sheffield between April 18th to May 4th. The qualifying rounds will be held just before this (April 6th to 15th).

Please note, all the dates listed below are correct as of writing as per the World Snooker Tour website

2025

June 22-24: 2025 Wuhan Open qualifying

June 25-28: 2025 British Open qualifying

June 30-July 5: 2025 Championship League Ranking Event (Week One)

July 7-12: 2025 Championship League Ranking Event (Week Two)

July 14-17: 2025 Championship League Ranking Event (Week Three)

July 18-19: 2025 Championship League Ranking Event (Stage Two, part one)

July 21-22: 2025 Championship League Ranking Event (Stage Two, part two)

July 23: 2025 Championship League Ranking Event (Finals Day)

July 28-August 3: 2025 Shanghai Masters

August 8-16: 2025 Saudi Arabia Masters

August 24-30: 2025 Wuhan Open

September 1-3: 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix qualifying

September 4-7: 2025 Northern Ireland Open qualifying

September 11-14: 2025 English Open qualifying

September 15-21: 2025 English Open

September 22-28: 2025 British Open

September 30-October 2: 2025 International Championship qualifying

October 7-13: 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix

October 14-17: 2025 Scottish Open qualifying

October 19-26: 2025 Northern Ireland Open

November 2-9: 2025 International Championship

November 10-16: 2025 Champion of Champions

November 29-December 7: 2025 UK Championship

December 10-13: 2025 Shoot Out

December 15-21: 2025 Scottish Open

2026

January 2-9: 2026 Championship League Invitational (Groups 1-4)

January 5-7: 2026 German Masters qualifying

January 8-10: 2026 Welsh Open qualifying

January 11-18: 2026 Masters

January 19-24: 2026 Championship League Invitational (Groups 5-7)

January 26-February 1: 2026 German Masters

February 3-8: 2026 World Grand Prix

February 10-12: 2026 World Open qualifying

February 10-11: 2026 Championship League Invitational (Winners' Group)

February 23-March 1: 2026 Welsh Open

March 16-22: 2026 World Open

March 30-April 5: 2026 Tour Championship

April 6-15: 2026 World Snooker Championship qualifying

April 18-May 4: 2026 World Snooker Championship