2026 UK Championship Snooker Qualifying Draw: Former winners Jimmy White and Ding Junhui discover routes
The draw for the 2026 UK Championship snooker qualifiers has been released; information on the format and players involved here on Totally Snookered.
The first Triple Crown tournament of the professional snooker season - the 2026 UK Championship - is around the corner, but just before the televised stages in York comes the drama of the qualifying rounds.
The main event in front of the BBC cameras once again takes place at the Barbican Centre, this year between the dates of Saturday 28th November to Sunday 6th December.
A total of 32 players will feature in this main draw: the world’s top 16 ranked stars who have all earned automatic tickets to York, and the 16 qualifiers who emerge from the preliminary gauntlet held at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester between November 21-26.
There is a significant increase in prize money for the 2026 UK Championship. The total prize is £1.5 million (was £1,205,000 in 2025) with the winner to collect £312,500 (£250,000 in 2025).
What is the format for the 2026 UK Championship qualifiers?
Before a ball is struck in this year’s competition, there are 144 contestants - including reigning and defending champion Mark Selby - dreaming of glory in professional snooker’s second-most prestigious ranking event.
As mentioned before, the 16 seeds are already assured of their place at the Barbican, but the other 128 cueists must all attend the qualifiers in Leicester.
The format is similar to the World Championship preliminaries, with four rounds of qualifying in a tiered draw system.
The lowest ranked professionals and invited amateurs start out at the first hurdle. The winners of those ties then face players seeded 49 to 80 who all enter the fray in the second round.
In round three, those positioned 17 to 48 in the global standings begin their challenges against the round two victors. The 32 players to emerge from that round advance to the final stage where they meet each other for the 16 qualification tickets on offer.
Qualifying Round One
Michal Szubarczyk v Joshua Thomond
Andrew Higginson v Farakh Ajaib
Gong Chenzhi v Paul Norris
Huang Jiahao v Panchaya Channoi
Connor Benzey v Craig Steadman
Leone Crowley v Sean O'Sullivan
Antoni Kowalski v Ryan Davies
Artemijs Zizins v Liu Yang
Zhao Hanyang v Ng On Yee
Ashley Hugill v Aaron Busuttil
Ashley Carty v Bai Yulu
Chatchapong Nasa v Dean Young
Ka Wai Cheung v Michael Larkov
Jamie Clarke v Riley Powell
Alfie Burden v Mahmoud El Hareedy
Mateusz Baranowski v Stuart Carrington
Xu Yichen v Edward Jones
Sahil Nayyar v Mark Joyce
Florian Nuessle v Sanderson Lam
Jimmy White v Brian Ochoiski
Oliver Brown v Anton Kazakov
Liam Graham v Mark Lloyd
Oliver Sykes v Peter Lines
Liu Wenwei v Mina Awad
Reanne Evans v Daniel Boyes
Alexander Ursenbacher v Vladislav Gradinari
Mitchell Mann v Deng Haohui
Luo Zetao v Sebastian Milewski
Julien Leclercq v Phil O'Kane
Thananwat Tirapongpaiboon v Paul Deaville
Fergal Quinn v Krzysztof Czapnik
Wang Xinbo v Hammad Miah
Qualifying Round Two
Lan Yuhao v Szubarczyk/Thomond
He Guoqiang v Higginson/Ajaib
Marco Fu v Gong/Norris
Jamie Jones v Huang/Channoi
Martin O'Donnell v Benzey/Steadman
Iulian Boiko v Crowley/O'Sullivan
Long Zehuang v Kowalski/Davies
David Grace v Zizins/Liu Y
Yao Pengcheng v Zhao/Ng
Liu Hongyu v Hugill/Busuttil
Lyu Haotian v Carty/Bai
Liam Highfield v Nasa/Young
Jiang Jun v Ka Wai/Larkov
Louis Heathcote v Clarke/Powell
Matthew Stevens v Burden/El Hareedy
Liam Davies v Baranowski/Carrington
Ian Burns v Xu Y/E Jones
Ben Woollaston v Nayyar/Joyce
Ishpreet Singh Chadha v Nuessle/Lam
Ben Mertens v White/Ochoiski
Scott Donaldson v O Brown/Kazakov
Dylan Emery v Graham/Lloyd
Oliver Lines v Sykes/P Lines
Steven Hallworth v Liu W/Awad
Gao Yang v Evans/Boyes
Robbie Williams v Ursenbacher/Gradinari
Liam Pullen v Mann/Deng
David Lilley v Luo/Milewski
Sam Craigie v Leclercq/O'Kane
Jordan Brown v Tirapongpaiboon/Deaville
Ricky Walden v Quinn/Czapnik
Ross Muir v Wang/Miah
Qualifying Round Three
1) Jak Jones v Lan/Szubarczyk/Thomond
2) Matthew Selt v He/Higginson/Ajaib
3) Joe O'Connor v Fu/Gong/Norris
4) Noppon Saengkham v Jam Jones/Huang/Channoi
5) Michael Holt v O'Donnell/Benzey/Steadman
6) Si Jiahui v Boiko/Crowley/O'Sullivan
7) Jimmy Robertson v Long/Kowalski/Davies
8) Elliot Slessor v Grace/Zizins/Liu Y
9) Zhang Anda v Yao/Zhao/Ng
10) Stan Moody v Liu H/Hugill/Busuttil
11) Gary Wilson v Lyu/Carty/Bai
12) Anthony McGill v Highfield/Nasa/Young
13) Tom Ford v Jiang/Ka Wai/Larkov
14) Pang Junxu v Heathcote/Clarke/Powell
15) Fan Zhengyi v Stevens/Burden/El Hareedy
16) Stuart Bingham v Davies/Baranowski/Carrington
17) Jack Lisowski v Burns/Xu Y/E Jones
18) Xu Si v Woollaston/Nayyar/Joyce
19) Hossein Vafaei v Chadha/Nuessle/Lam
20) Aaron Hill v Mertens/White/Ochoiski
21) Jackson Page v Donaldson/O Brown/Kazakov
22) Lei Peifan v Emery/Graham/Lloyd
23) Zak Surety v O Lines/Sykes/P Lines
24) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Hallworth/Liu W/Awad
25) Ding Junhui v Gao/Evans/Boyes
26) Ryan Day v Williams/Ursenbacher/Gradinari
27) Yuan Sijun v Pullen/Mann/Deng
28) Luca Brecel v Lilley/Luo/Milewski
29) David Gilbert v Craigie/Leclercq/O'Kane
30) Stephen Maguire v J Brown/Tirapongpaiboon/Deaville
31) Daniel Wells v Walden/Quinn/Czapnik
32) Zhou Yuelong v Muir/Wang/Miah
Final Qualifying Round
Winner of match 1 v Winner of match 2
Winner of match 3 v Winner of match 4
Winner of match 5 v Winner of match 6
Winner of match 7 v Winner of match 8
Winner of match 9 v Winner of match 10
Winner of match 11 v Winner of match 12
Winner of match 13 v Winner of match 14
Winner of match 15 v Winner of match 16
Winner of match 17 v Winner of match 18
Winner of match 19 v Winner of match 20
Winner of match 21 v Winner of match 22
Winner of match 23 v Winner of match 24
Winner of match 25 v Winner of match 26
Winner of match 27 v Winner of match 28
Winner of match 29 v Winner of match 30
Winner of match 31 v Winner of match 32
Snooker legend Jimmy White amongst former winners and title holders set for qualifying
All of the world’s top 16 have entered the 2026 UK Championship, including record eight-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan, and 2022 champion Mark Allen who is recovering from mental health issues.
The cueist who just missed the automatic cut was world number 17 Jak Jones. The current Championship League and British Open titles holder will meet either Lan Yuhao, Michal Szubarczyk or Joshua Thomond first up, and then may need to defeat Matthew Selt to qualify.
There are four former UK Championship title winners in the qualifying draw: Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens, Stephen Maguire and Ding Junhui.
Victor in 1992, the World Snooker Tour's oldest professional White will need to navigate all four rounds to make the main draw, although the 64-year-old did successfully run that same gauntlet in 2022.
Ten-time ranking event winner White's opening assignment will be Brian Ochoiski from France - one of several amateur players to be awarded invites due to their recent performances on the sport's secondary tier.
2003 winner Stevens starts in round two against either Alfie Burden or Mahmoud El Hareedy, meanwhile the 2004 champion Maguire needs to negotiate two hurdles, starting with either Jordan Brown, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon or Paul Deaville.
One of the most decorated players in UK Championship history is three-time winner Ding Junhui, but the Chinese icon finds himself having to qualify due to recently falling outside of snooker's elite ranking bracket.
The last two of Ding's five UK Championship final appearances have come as a qualifier, though, and he begins against either Reanne Evans, Daniel Boyes or Gao Yang.
Former World Champions Luca Brecel and Stuart Bingham are both in the draw needing to come through two rounds; a winner of the Masters title, Bingham requires this accolade to complete a 'Career Triple Crown'.
Runner-up in 2008 when he was pipped in a deciding frame, a resurgent Marco Fu - who recently made the International Championship quarter-finals - is three match wins away from a return to the Barbican.
There could be a father versus child clash in the second qualifying round. If Peter Lines gets past Oliver Sykes, he would meet his son Oliver.
All matches at the qualifying rounds are the best of 11 frames.