Next season's provisional top flight snooker calendar revealed with possible return of big event

A few weeks ago, World Snooker Tour professionals were sent an email of how the 2026/27 top flight circuit is shaping up.

Several of next season’s events were already known with tickets on sale, but other pieces of the jigsaw were added with the projected tournament diary.

In terms of the Triple Crown events, there are no surprises, with the UK Championship, Masters, and World Championship all in their regular spots on the calendar, and remaining at their familiar modern-day homes.

The Players Series appears to be back, with the World Grand Prix, Players Championship, and Tour Championship all pencilled in towards the end of the campaign, and staying at their respective venues in Hong Kong, Telford, and Manchester.

This season was the tenth and final year of the current Home Nations Series contract, but it looks like the Series will return next season with all four components - the English, Northern Ireland, Scottish, and Welsh Opens - on the list, and remaining at the same arenas they’ve recently been staged in.

Other events on British soil are coming back - Championship League (both the ranking and invitational versions), British Open, Champion of Champions, and the Shoot Out. Mainland Europe’s only event - but a brilliant one at that - continues at the Tempodrom in Berlin with the German Masters.

More Far East snooker action that ever before?

It seems likely that there will be seven competitions held in the Far East next season, with the China Open primed for a return to the pro tour.

First held in 1999, the China Open was staged every year from 2005 to 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 edition. It has been off the calendar since.

But in recent months there has been online discussion about the ranking tournament - famously won by home hero Ding Junhui in Beijing in 2005 - being revived with the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association putting it out to tender to host cities.

Whilst it hasn’t been confirmed, a provisional date in August - consisting of nine days - has been set aside for the event, with Taiyuan City being the suggested home.

All of this season’s Far East events appear to be back on the schedule meaning players could be busier on the other side of the world than ever before.

What is the schedule looking like?

Following the Asia-Oceania and UK Q Schools held in mid to late May, the first professional action of the new campaign is set to be at the Mattioli Arena with a qualification double-header for the China Open and Wuhan Open (should the China Open be confirmed as going ahead).

Following this is the Championship League Snooker Ranking Event which runs from June 22 to July 15, although there are days off in between.

Then there is a triple-header of qualifying action with preliminaries for the Xi’an Grand Prix, British Open and English Open.

The first big, main stage event of the season set to feature all the sport’s top stars is the Shanghai Masters invitational at the end of July. This looks like being the first part of a ‘Chinese swing’ on the circuit with initial dates pointing towards this, the China Open, and the Wuhan Open all being played inside just over a month.

Next season’s televised snooker from the UK is likely to start with the British Open which begins on August 31st in Cheltenham.

The remaining established events all seem to be in similar positions on the schedule as to this season.

What about the Saudi Arabia Masters?

There are a few question marks over one tournament, though - the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.

The second richest stop on the professional scene, it was reported that a ten-year deal was signed for the event. Judd Trump (2024) and Neil Robertson (2025) won its first two editions.

But with the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, there is no certainty that will be staged this year. Other major sporting events meant to be held in the region have been cancelled in recent weeks.

The Saudi Arabia Masters wasn’t on the provisional calendar, but there was a note saying that dates are being held for it at the start of October - this is slightly later than the last couple of years, perhaps deliberate to allow more time for the conflict to be resolved.

There is also no mention on the provisional calendar of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship - the 167 ‘golden ball’ event - in Saudi Arabia, although that’s no big surprise as it only takes three days to complete and dates are expected to come out closer to the time.

A couple of years ago, there was talk of an event taking place in Qatar, but this idea seems to have been shelved for the time being.

Please note, all the information above is only provisional until the World Snooker Tour officially release dates to the public.