Why is Ronnie O'Sullivan not playing at the 2026 International Championship snooker event?

Taking place in Nanjing, China between Saturday 31st October to Saturday 7th November, the International Championship is one of the most lucrative world ranking events on the professional snooker circuit with a top prize of £175,000. However, before a ball has even been hit in the Far East, several top 16 stars are already out of contention.

Unlike most ranked tournaments on the World Snooker Tour this season, the International Championship has continued to use a ‘flat draw’ system, meaning all players - regardless of their world ranking position - start in the opening round (bar the preliminary round of three matches featuring Chinese wildcards).

As a result, the majority of round one games were played as ‘qualifiers’ held at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester last month. Several players had their initial assignments held over to the televised stages in China - such as reigning champion Wu Yize and world number one Zhao Xintong - but Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, John Higgins and Mark Williams were amongst those who had to play at the behind-closed-doors qualifiers where they booked berths for Nanjing.

Two top 16 cueists to be eliminated during qualifying were two-time Wuhan Open Champion Xiao Guodong (defeated 6-4 by Dylan Emery) and recent English Open Champion Ali Carter (defeated 6-2 by Anton Kazakov).

Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins and Luca Brecel all won their qualifying matches at the Mattioli, but will not be at the final stages in Asia as they have withdrawn due to medical reasons. As it’s the second round, their scheduled opponents Mitchell Mann, Ricky Walden and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh all receive byes into the last 32.

Ronnie O’Sullivan withdrew from International Championship qualifying

Widely acknowledged as snooker’s greatest-ever player, Ronnie O’Sullivan will also not be in action at the SNC National Fitness Centre.

Currently 13th in the world rankings, O’Sullivan was somewhat surprisingly not picked by the tournament promoters as one of the players to have their first round ties held over to the main venue. That meant seven-times World Champion O’Sullivan had to begin his campaign at the qualifiers in Leicester, where he was scheduled to meet Louis Heathcote for a spot in the main draw.

However, the 50-year-old - who is currently a Dubai resident - withdrew from the competition due to medical reasons, and was replaced in the draw by Q School top-up amateur Joshua Thomond.

Only weeks before he was named in the qualifying draw, O’Sullivan talked about his future in the sport, and how having to attend qualifiers would signal the end of his career.

O’Sullivan’s wait for another professional trophy continues with his last title coming over two-and-a-half years ago at the World Masters of Snooker (now known as the Riyadh Season Championship) in Saudi Arabia. The record 41-time ranking event winner has lost his opening match at his last two tournament outings - the Shenzhen Open and Northern Ireland Open.

Next up for ‘The Rocket’ could be an appearance at the Champion of Champions in November - a title he has won a record four times - which takes place shortly before the UK Championship begins.

Mark Allen did enter the International Championship but subsequently withdrew; the former world number one has been ill with mental health issues, but recently suggested online that he may be back for the UK Championship in York.

Whilst six of the world’s current top 16 are not in Nanjing, there is still lots of star power on the programme with World Champion Wu defending a professional title for the first time in his career.

Wu could become the world number one for the first time in his career at this tournament as he is less than £26,000 behind Chinese compatriot Zhao Xintong who has headed the global standings since the end of August.

Newly-minted Northern Ireland Open Champion Kyren Wilson is looking to keep his run going, meanwhile two-time International Championship title winners Judd Trump, Ding Junhui and Selby are aiming to make it an unprecedented hat-trick.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 International Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.