Who are the Crucible top 16 seeds at the 2026 World Snooker Championship? Part two, numbers 8 to 1

The televised stages for the 2026 World Snooker Championship take place at the Crucible between Saturday 18th April to Monday 4th May.

A total of 32 players make up the main draw - the world’s top 16 ranked players who are seeds, and the 16 players who emerge from the qualifying rounds held at the English Institute of Sport elsewhere in Sheffield only a few days before. These two pools of players are then randomly drawn against each other for round one.

Part one (seeds 16 to 9) can be viewed here.

Seed 8: Shaun Murphy

After temporarily falling outside of the world’s elite top 16 rankings in 2025 for the first time in over 19 years, Murphy has been one of this season’s standout performers having won the British Open and been runner-up at two further ranking event finals.

‘The Magician’ is one of the most Crucible-experienced players of all-time with 23 appearances to his name. He made his debut in 2002, and has been an ever-present here since his world title triumph - as a qualifier - in 2005.

Murphy has also been to three more world finals (2009, 2015, 2021). His Crucible record is a bit patchy, though; from his last ten visits, he has been past the last 16 only once (when he was runner-up in 2021), losing in the first round on five of those occasions.

Seed 7: Mark Selby

One of the most decorated players of all-time, Mark Selby is what is classed as a Crucible specialist, winning the sport’s ultimate prize four times, and being the runner-up twice.

His first Crucible glory came in 2014 when he came from behind to defeat Ronnie O’Sullivan in a memorable final - denying his opponent three title wins in a row. This is the only world final that O’Sullivan has lost.

From ten outings between 2014 to 2023, Selby made the final five times (winning four), although he has lost in the opening round in each of the last two years. This upcoming campaign is set to be his 22nd cap at the iconic venue.

Selby travels to Sheffield this year as the reigning UK Champion; he also won the Champion of Champions and Championship League Invitational earlier in the season.

Seed 6: Mark Williams

The legendary three-time world champion Mark Williams nearly made it four Crucible crowns last year when he became the oldest finalist in the competition’s history. He was defeated by Zhao Xintong, 18-12, in the title match.

The Welshman, who is now 51-years-old, created more snooker history earlier this season when he became the oldest-ever ranking event champion after winning the Xi’an Grand Prix. Recent results on the pro circuit haven’t been great, but nor were they last year before his run to the final.

This is set to be Williams’ 28th Crucible bow; he made his debut in 1997.

Seed 5: John Higgins

John Higgins is gearing up for a 32nd consecutive annual trip to the Crucible; he’s been part of the furniture ever since he made his opening visit in 1995.

Third on snooker’s all-time list for winning the most ranking event titles with 33, four of those have been world championship crowns, although the latest of which came 15 years ago in 2011. However, he did appear in three consecutive finals between 2017 to 2019.

Last season, Higgins ended a four-year wait for a ranking trophy, and another one followed shortly afterwards. He hasn’t won a title this term, but he has appeared in three finals, one being the Masters at the Alexandra Palace in January.

Seed 4: Neil Robertson

Australia’s Neil Robertson has turned his career around over the last couple of seasons from a position of being ranked outside of the world’s top 16, to having a chance of ending this season as the world number one, and returning to the top of the green baize tree.

The biggest reason for his jump up the global standings is due to collecting his largest payday in the sport of £500,000 in August when he pipped Ronnie O’Sullivan, 10-9, in a thrilling Saudi Arabia Masters final.

Snooker’s most successful non-British player of all-time, -tieRobertson has a love/not so love relationship with the Crucible in terms of his playing record. He climbed the mountain in 2010, but has not been back to the final since, in fact, he’s ‘only’ made the semi-finals once during that period too.

He has played on the grandest stage every year since his debut in 2005, except for a couple of years ago when he failed to qualify.

Seed 3: Kyren Wilson

The ultimate aspiration for all professional players was realised by Kyren Wilson two years ago when he become world champion for the first time.

He thrived whilst wearing the world crown, taking his game to new consistent levels by claiming four ranking titles in his follow-up season, although he fell victim to the ‘Crucible Curse’ on the opening day of last year’s event when returning as the title holder.

This term has been a rollercoaster for Wilson, having to content with issues both on and off the table. He hasn’t made a ranking event semi-final, but on the invitational scene, he collected two huge titles at the Shanghai Masters, and the Masters. The latter feat making him a multiple-time Triple Crown event winner.

'The Warrior' has established a reputation as a bit of a Crucible specialist; from his 11 appearances to date, he has made at least the quarter-finals on seven occasions.

Seed 2: Judd Trump

World number one since August 2024, Trump is the fourth most decorated ranking event champion of all-time with 31 titles to his name, and with time on his side, he will very likely rise at least a couple of positions by the time his professional career is over.

The 36-year-old has been searching for his best form this season, but despite not being 100%, he has still featured in five finals - more than anyone else. 2025 was the first calendar year he didn’t win a title since 2013, but he ended that unwanted sequence with his record fourth German Masters crown at the start of February.

Preparing for his 17th Crucible expedition, Trump would love to join an exclusive club of multiple-time world champions - doubling up his swashbuckling success from 2019. He was also runner-up in 2011 - only his second visit there - and 2022.

Seed 1: Zhao Xintong

Besides perhaps Ronnie O’Sullivan, reigning and defending world champion Zhao Xintong will garner the most attention at this year’s event as he attempts to be the player to break the famous ‘Crucible Curse’.

In history, 23 first-time Crucible champions have returned the following year to try and go back-to-back - including many of the sport’s all-time greats - but they’ve all failed.

Chinese ace Zhao - who became Asia’s first world professional snooker champion last year, having come from the opening qualifying round - arrives this year as the favourite to win the tournament after a recent spell of golden results. A few weeks ago he created more snooker history in winning all three Players Series events within the same season.

This year is set to be Zhao’s fourth Crucible appearance.