Top stars including Ronnie O'Sullivan discover when they will play at the World Championship

The main draw, televised stages of the 2026 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield take place between Saturday 18th April to Monday 4th May.

During the recent Tour Championship in Manchester - the penultimate event of the professional season - the top 16 seeds for the Championship were confirmed, and the seed number allocation.

These top 16 players from the world rankings all go straight through to the main draw at the Crucible, and will be randomly drawn against the 16 cueists that emerge from the qualifying rounds in round one proper. The draw for this is expected to be done on the morning of Thursday 16th April, the day after qualifying at the English Institute of Sport is completed.

When do the top seeds play in the first round at the Crucible?

Two tables will be in operation across the first and second rounds, and the quarter-finals, before the Crucible arena is transformed into a one-table set-up for the semi-finals. Matches in the top half of the draw will be played on table one with the bottom half on table two before the last four.

The only player whose round one schedule was already known was reigning and defending champion Zhao Xintong’s.

Current holder of the Crucible crown - and favourite for the title this year after his recent success at the Tour Championship - Zhao will play and finish his first round match on the opening day at the Crucible, as per tradition, with morning and evening session engagements. All encounters in round one are the best of 19 frames across two scheduled sessions.

Helping Zhao break off the competition in front of the television cameras will be Mark Allen, who will play on the other side of the divide on the first morning.

On the afternoon of day one, last year’s runner-up and three-time champion Mark Williams, and Xiao Guodong will feature for their first sessions, and recent Welsh Open champion Barry Hawkins enters the fray on Saturday evening.

Four matches will be completed on Sunday, with former finalist Ding Junhui, and four-time champion John Higgins starting their challenges. Ding and Higgins will then finish up the next day.

On Monday, world number two Kyren Wilson - the victor here two years ago - is on double duty with morning and evening outings. Debut seed Wu Yize, and 2005 champion Shaun Murphy get underway.

When does Ronnie O’Sullivan play his first match at the 2026 World Championship?

Tuesday is shaping up to be a blockbuster with world number one Judd Trump performing in the morning and evening.

In the afternoon session from 14:30BST, seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan launches his latest Crucible bid.

Very proficient in getting past the first round down the years, 50-year-old O’Sullivan will conclude his first round tie on Wednesday afternoon from the same scheduled start time.

O’Sullivan’s last appearance on the professional circuit was at the World Open in Yushan, China in the middle of March where he reached the final, but was denied the title by an inspired Thepchaiya Un-Nooh who made a maximum 147 break during an incredible burst to the finish line.

Chris Wakelin - who is also making his bow as a Crucible seed - is scheduled for the mornings of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Four-time winner and current UK Champion Mark Selby is set to play and wrap up his round one fixture on Wednesday - Si Jiahui and Neil Robertson begin theirs on the same day, and finish on Thursday.

The first and second rounds overlap on Thursday, as matches become three-session, best of 25 frames affairs for the last 16.

To see the full match schedule for the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit the World Snooker Tour document here.