Who are the qualifiers for the 2026 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible?

Following nine days of intense qualifying action at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, all 16 tickets for snooker’s biggest party at the Crucible have been snapped up.

There is an eclectic mix of qualifiers for this year’s blue riband event, with several youngsters making their debuts, and a group of seasoned professionals returning to the grand stage.

The debutants

Four players are set to make their Crucible bows, and all of them are aged 25 years or younger.

Stan Moody will be the first British teenager to make a world championship main draw debut since Judd Trump in 2007.

The 19-year-old discharged himself from hospital the day before in order to compete at Judgement Day where he hit three century breaks in the closing stages as he ousted Jiang Jun in a deciding frame.

Moody isn’t the only Yorkshire youngster in the draw, though, as 20-year-old Liam Pullen navigated all four rounds of the qualifying gauntlet.

Pullen lost his tour card at the end of last season, but immediately bounced back through Q School. Like Moody, Pullen has broken new personal ground this term in reaching the last eight of a ranking event.

Antoni Kowalski will make history for himself and his country as the first Polish player to make the Crucible grade.

Only in his second season as a professional, qualification held extra significance for the 22-year-old as it also maintained his top flight tour card for next season.

Winner of the World Snooker Tour’s ‘Rookie of the Season’ award two years ago, it was ‘third time’s a charm’ for He Guoqiang as he jumped the Judgement Day hurdle for the first time having lost in the final qualifying round in each of the last two years.

The 25-year-old from China defeated one of the highest ranked stars at this year’s qualifying - reigning Northern Ireland Open champion Jack Lisowski.

The record-breaking Chinese contingent

An unprecedented total of 11 Chinese players will line-up in the main draw, eclipsing the previous benchmark of 10 set last year.

Six of these are qualifiers. Joining debutant He are compatriots Zhang Anda, Zhou Yuelong, Pang Junxu, Lei Peifan and Fan Zhengyi.

These five are accomplished players on the top tier with Zhang, Lei, and Fan all former ranking event champions, meanwhile Zhou and Pang have been ranked runners-up.

Zhou and Zhang both appeared in finals earlier this season; the former was pipped by Mark Allen in a deciding frame at the English Open.

The lowest ranked qualifier

As the world number 92 coming into the event, Liam Highfield will be the lowest ranked player in this year’s main draw.

The two-time ranking event quarter-finalist wasn’t even on the professional circuit last season, but regained his top tier status through the Global Q Tour playoffs held in spring 2025.

Like the aforementioned Pullen, the Englishman had to start at the bottom of the qualification ladder in Sheffield, negotiating all four rounds to secure a fourth Crucible cap.

A gruelling gauntlet, but Highfield won all four of his matches with spare change, defeating Stephen Maguire 10-5 in the penultimate round, and Oliver Lines 10-2 in the last.

Experienced Crucible campaigners return

Several very familiar faces will return to the Crucible over the coming days, including two-time world championship runner-up Ali Carter.

‘The Captain’ will be back for a 22nd campaign, making him one of the most frequent visitors in the history books. Since his debut in 2003, he has only twice failed to make the cut. Carter found himself behind in both of his qualifying matches but finished strongly in each to advance.

Another two-time finalist who made it through is Matthew Stevens, having stopped 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham in the final qualifying round. The Welshman made his Crucible bow in 1998 and returns for a 19th time.

2024 runner-up Jak Jones defeated 2023 champion Luca Brecel in the final part of Judgement Day at the EIS, and impressively so with five century breaks. Jones is becoming a bit of a longer-format specialist and has put his name in the main draw for a fourth successive year.

Former ranking event winners Gary Wilson, David Gilbert, and Hossein Vafaei are also in the mix.

Wilson reached the Sheffield semi-finals in 2018, meanwhile Gilbert has been to the one-table set-up in both 2018 and 2024 - in the former year, he was denied in a deciding frame.

Vafaei became the first cueist from Iran to compete at the Crucible in 2022 and he has gone back every year since.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Championship qualifying rounds, visit here.