World Championship 2026: Schedule, seeds & BBC TV schedule

The 2026 World Snooker Championship takes place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from 18 April to 4 May - and you can watch every shot of the tournament live on the BBC.

Zhao Xintong, who became the first champion from China by beating Mark Williams in last year's final, will get the 17-day tournament under way against qualifier Liam Highfield at 10:00 BST on Saturday.

Zhao is one of a record 11 players from China in the field of 32, beating the previous high of 10 from last year.

Ronnie O'Sullivan hopes to win a record eighth world title at the age of 50 - 25 years after claiming his first - to finally move clear of Stephen Hendry as the championship's most successful player.

World number one Judd Trump will aim to lift the trophy for the second time, while other contenders include four-time champions Mark Selby and John Higgins, three-time winner Mark Williams and 2024 champion Kyren Wilson.

There are four debutants including England's Stan Moody, 19, and Liam Pullen, 20.

This year is the 50th championship to be held at the Crucible since the tournament moved to Sheffield in 1977.

The two-day final starts on 3 May, with the winner taking home £500,000.

He will need to win 71 frames over four matches to lift the trophy.

The world's top 16 at the end of the Tour Championship on 5 April were guaranteed a seeded place at the Crucible.

As defending champion, Zhao has the honour of being top seed and as per tradition plays his first-round match in the opening session.

O'Sullivan, who made the sport's highest-ever professional break with a 153 at the World Open in March, is seeded 12th and is in the same half of the draw as Zhao.

World number one Trump is the number two seed and is joined in the bottom half of the draw by third seed and reigning Masters champion Wilson.

Australian Neil Robertson is the number four seed ahead of veteran duo Higgins and Williams at five and six, with Selby at seven and Murphy eight.

Full seedings:

1 Zhao Xintong

2 Judd Trump

3 Kyren Wilson

4 Neil Robertson

5 John Higgins

6 Mark Williams

7 Mark Selby

8 Shaun Murphy

9 Xiao Guodong

10 Wu Yize

11 Barry Hawkins

12 Ronnie O'Sullivan

13 Chris Wakelin

14 Mark Allen

15 Si Jiahui

16 Ding Junhui

The Englishman, whose most recent world title triumph was in 2022, is making his 34th consecutive appearance at the World Championship.

The 50-year-old has not won a ranking title this season but made the sport's highest-ever professional break with a 153 at the World Open in March.

He starts his campaign against debutant He Guoqiang on Tuesday afternoon, with the best-of-19 match finishing the following day.

Should O'Sullivan win and other matches go according to seedings, he would face John Higgins in a second-round match starting at 19:00 BST on Saturday, 25 April, Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals and reigning champion Zhao in the semi-finals.

The Rocket lost 17-7 with a session to spare to Zhao in the semi-finals last year.

Moody and Liam Pullen will both make their debuts as two of the 16 players to come through the qualifying tournament at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

Moody, who will become the first British teenager to make his Crucible debut since a 17-year-old Trump in 2007, faces 2024 champion Wilson in the first round, while Pullen plays 13th seed Chris Wakelin.

China's He is another debutant, while Antoni Kowalski, 22, will become the first player from Poland to play at the Crucible.

Two-time beaten finalists Matthew Stevens and Ali Carter both qualified, as has 2024 finalist Jak Jones, 2019 semi-finalist Gary Wilson and Iran's Hossein Vafaei.

However, Luca Brecel was among the players who failed to make the cut.

The qualifiers will take hope from the success of Zhao last year, who won four qualifying matches to reach the Crucible then went on to become only the third qualifier to win the world title.

Zhao was also one of six qualifiers to beat seeded players in 2025's opening round.

With comprehensive television coverage across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four, and uninterrupted streaming on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, audiences won't miss a moment from the first break to the final frame.

Legends of the game Hendry, Steve Davis, John Parrott, Ken Doherty and Dennis Taylor will offer their expert analysis throughout the tournament.

The BBC Sport website and app will provide daily coverage via live streams and live text pages, including updates and analysis from our reporters at the Crucible.

BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds will have regular live updates throughout the Championship.

BBC Sport social media channels will deliver behind-the-scenes content as well as highlight clips from the tournament and player interviews.

All times BST and subject to late changes, while session times could finish earlier or later than listed below. *denotes final session

10:00

Zhao Xintong (1) v Liam Highfield

Mark Allen (14) v Zhang Anda

14:30

Xiao Guodong (9) v Zhou Yuelong

Mark Williams (6) v Antoni Kowalski

19:00

Zhao Xintong (1) v Liam Highfield *

Barry Hawkins (11) v Matthew Stevens

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-15:20 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:15-02:15 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

10:00

Ding Junhui (16) v David Gilbert

Mark Allen (14) v Zhang Anda *

14:30

John Higgins (5) v Ali Carter

Barry Hawkins (11) v Matthew Stevens *

19:00

Xiao Guodong (9) v Zhou Yuelong *

Mark Williams (6) v Antoni Kowalski *

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

10:00

Ding Junhui (16) v David Gilbert *

Kyren Wilson (3) v Stan Moody

14:30

John Higgins (5) v Ali Carter *

Wu Yize (10) v Lei Peifan

19:00

Shaun Murphy (8) v Fan Zhengyi

Kyren Wilson (3) v Stan Moody *

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

10:00

Chris Wakelin (13) v Liam Pullen

Judd Trump (2) v Gary Wilson

14:30

Ronnie O'Sullivan (12) v He Guoqiang

Wu Yize (10) v Lei Peifan *

19:00

Shaun Murphy (8) v Fan Zhengyi *

Judd Trump (2) v Gary Wilson *

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

10:00

Chris Wakelin (13) v Liam Pullen *

Mark Selby (7) v Jak Jones

14:30

Ronnie O'Sullivan (12) v He Guoqiang *

Si Jiahui (15) v Hossein Vafaei

19:00

Neil Robertson (4) v Pang Junxu

Mark Selby (7) v Jak Jones *

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-11:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

13:00

Si Jiahui (15) v Hossein Vafaei *

19:00

Neil Robertson (4) v Pang Junxu *

Live coverage

13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

13:00-17:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

Thursday, 23 April

Live coverage

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Friday, 24 April

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Saturday, 25 April

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:05 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:00-16:30 - BBC One

16:30-17:15 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:10-03:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Sunday, 26 April

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:30 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

15:00-18:00 - BBC Two

16:35-18:00 - Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

23:55-01:55 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Monday, 27 April

Live coverage

13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

15:00-17:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Tuesday, 28 April

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Wednesday, 29 April

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-11:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - Red Button

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Thursday, 30 April

Live coverage

13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

13:00-16:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two

Highlights

00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two

Friday, 1 May

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

14:15-18:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two

Saturday, 2 May

Live coverage

10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

10:00-12:30 - BBC Two

14:00-16:30 - BBC One

16:30-17:30 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two

Sunday, 3 May

Live coverage

13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

13:00-16:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two

Monday, 4 May

13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app

13:00-16:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two

The winner receives £500,000 and there was a total prize fund of almost £2.4m.

Winner: £500,000

Runner-up: £200,000

Semi-finalists: £100,000

Quarter-finalists: £50,000

Last 16: £30,000

Last 32: £20,000

Highest break (qualifying stage included): £15,000

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen made a 147 break in the 13th frame of his second-round match against Chris Wakelin.

He became only the 11th player to make a 147 at the Crucible. The maximum was the 15th at the venue in the tournament's history and the first since Selby's clearance in the 2023 final.

Allen, who was 10-2 behind in the match at the time, went on to lose 13-6 to qualifier Wakelin.

2025: Zhao Xintong (China) *

2024: Kyren Wilson (England) *

2023: Luca Brecel (Belgium) *

2022: Ronnie O'Sullivan (England)

2021: Mark Selby (England)

2020: Ronnie O'Sullivan (England)

2019: Judd Trump (England)

2018: Mark Williams (Wales)

2017: Mark Selby (England)

2016: Mark Selby (England)

* first-time winners