Ronnie O'Sullivan and World Champion Wu Yize Headline Impressive Crucible Cup Line-Up

The second edition of the Crucible Cup will take place on November 24th and 25th at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading, with a £25,000 top prize on offer.

Played under ‘Snooker 900’ rules, reigning champion Neil Robertson has been announced to defend his title. The Australian defeated John Higgins, 7-5, in last year’s final to claim the inaugural crown.

Seven-times World Champion O’Sullivan is due to make his debut in the competition, although he is very familiar with this format having won The John Virgo Cup and Snooker 900 Global Championship titles earlier this year. ‘The Rocket’ is also heavily involved with the Snooker 900 brand.

With the tournament taking place between professional events the Champion of Champions and UK Championship, current Crucible king Wu has a space in his diary and is primed to make his ‘900’ debut.

Seniors British Open Champion Joe Perry - who was also runner-up to O’Sullivan at the World Seniors Snooker Championship in Sheffield in May - is in the Crucible Cup field, as is Maltese sporting icon Tony Drago, who as one of the quickest players of all-time should have no issue with the shot-clock parameters.

The draw is not yet known except for one opening round match that will see Barry Pinches face O’Sullivan. Pinches defeated fellow ex-professional Gerard Greene in the final of a qualifying event held in Reading a few weeks ago to book his spot.

The two remaining cueists are China’s Zheng Yubo and India’s Pankaj Advani.

Zheng is one of the world’s top heyball/Chinese 8-ball pool players, who recently showed his cuesports versatility by winning the first big-stage Snooker 900 event to be held in China.

Advani is another very talented and decorated baize exponent; a former snooker professional, last month he added to his haul of world titles by winning the World Billiards Championship at the Landywood Snooker Club.

Two-time ranking event quarter-finalist Advani will be returning to the Reading arena having reached the last eight of the Global Championship where he nearly eliminated Kyren Wilson.

What is the Crucible Cup format, what are Snooker 900 rules?

The Crucible Cup is straight knockout with the opening matches scheduled for Tuesday 24th, followed by the semi-finals the next afternoon, then the final on the evening of Wednesday 25th.

Snooker 900 is a twist on the traditional format of the sport. Frames can last no longer than 15 minutes - 900 seconds, hence the name - and if the frame is not completed in that time, whoever is leading it in points when the time expires wins it.

A 20-second shot-clock is also in operation throughout, and players must either contact a cushion or pot a ball with every shot. Fouls are punished with cueball-in-hand awarded to the incoming player.

Live coverage of the 2026 Crucible Cup will be across all of Pluto TV’s platforms - including its app and website.