The 2026 World Snooker Championship has arrived, with the 17-day marathon at the Crucible Theatre set to provide the usual array of sporting drama as the best players on the planet vie to lift the famous trophy.

Zhao Xintong heads to Sheffield as defending champion after making history as the first Chinese winner of the tournament 12 months ago and he is the bookies’ favourite to retain his crown, although he will have to break the legendary ‘Crucible Curse’ to do so – with no first-time winner having successfully defended the title. He got off to a decent start by beating Liam Highfield 10-7 in the first round.

Plenty of other contenders will fancy their chances of stopping Zhao, including Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has found some form in recent weeks and began his quest for a record eighth world title with a 10-2 demolition Crucible debutant He Guoqiang.

O’Sullivan next has a mouthwatering last-16 clash with old rival John Higgins, who downed Ali Carter in round one, while fellow four-time winner Mark Selby opens up against former finalist Jak Jones. Meanwhile, world No 1 Judd Trump came through a tough opener against Gary Wilson, 2024 champion Kyren Wilson downed teenage wonderkid Stan Moody 10-7 and a rejuvenated Neil Robertson takes on Pang Junxu.

Here’s everything you need to know:

How to watch the World Snooker Championship

Every session of every match at the 2026 World Snooker Championship will be live on the BBC, with BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, the BBC red button, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website all utilised for coverage across the 17 days. The tournament is also broadcast on TNT Sports in the UK, with every session shown across their channels and subscribers can also use streaming service HBO Max to watch TNT Sports.

World Snooker Championship results

Round 1

Zhao Xintong (1) 10-7 Liam Highfield

Mark Allen (14) 10-6 Zhang Anda

Barry Hawkins (11) 10-4 Matthew Stevens

Xiao Guodong (9) 10-6 Zhou Yuelong

Mark Williams (6) 10-4 Antoni Kowalski

Ding Junhui (16) 10-5 David Gilbert

John Higgins (5) 10-7 Ali Carter

Kyren Wilson (3) 10-7 Stan Moody

Wu Yize (10) 10-2 Lei Peifan

Judd Trump (2) 10-5 Gary Wilson

Shaun Murphy (8) 10-9 Fan Zhengyi

Chris Wakelin (13) 10-6 Liam Pullen

Ronnie O’Sullivan (12) 10-2 He Guoqiang

Mark Selby (7) 10-2 Jak Jones

Hossein Vafaei 10-3 Si Jiahui (15)

World Snooker Championship schedule in full

(All times BST)

*denotes final session

Thursday 23 April

First round

7pm

Neil Robertson (4) 5-4 Pang Junxu*

Second round

7pm

Kyren Wilson vs Mark Allen

Friday 24 April

Second round

10am

Xiao Guodong vs Shaun Murphy

Barry Hawkins vs Mark Williams

2.30pm

Zhao Xintong vs Ding Junhui

Kyren Wilson v Mark Allen

7pm

Xiao Guodong vs Shaun Murphy*

Barry Hawkins vs Mark Williams

Saturday 25 April

Second round

10am

Chris Wakelin vs Neil Robertson/Pang Junxu

Kyren Wilson v Mark Allen*

2.30pm

Zhao Xintong vs Ding Junhui

Si Jiahui/Hossein Vafaei vs Judd Trump

7pm

John Higgins vs Ronnie O’Sullivan

Barry Hawkins vs Mark Williams*

Sunday 26 April

Second round

10am

Zhao Xintong vs Ding Junhui*

Mark Selby /Jak Jones vs Wu Yize

2.30pm

Chris Wakelin vs Neil Robertson/Pang Junxu

Si Jiahui/Hossein Vafaei vs Judd Trump

7pm

John Higgins vs Ronnie O’Sullivan

Mark Selby /Jak Jones vs Wu Yize

Monday 27 April

Second round

1pm

John Higgins vs Ronnie O’Sullivan*

Mark Selby /Jak Jones vs Wu Yize*

7pm

Chris Wakelin vs Neil Robertson/Pang Junxu*

Si Jiahui/Hossein Vafaei vs Judd Trump*

Tuesday 28 April

Quarter-finals

10am

QF 1 – session 1

QF 3 – session 1

2.30pm

QF 2 – session 1

QF 4 – session 1

7pm

QF 1 – session 2

QF 3 – session 2

Wednesday 29 April

Quarter-finals

10am

QF 3 – session 3*

QF 2 – session 2

2.30pm

QF 1 – session 3*

QF 4 – session 2

7pm

QF 2 – session 3*

QF 4 – session 3*

Thursday 30 April

Semi-finals

1pm

SF 1 – session 1

7pm

SF 2 – session 1

Friday 1 May

Semi-finals

10am

SF 1 – session 2

2.30pm

SF 2 – session 2

7pm

SF 1 – session 3

Saturday 2 May

Semi-finals

10am

SF 2 – session 3

2.30pm

SF 1 – session 4*

7pm

SF 2 – session 4*

Sunday 3 May

Final

1pm

Session 1

7pm

Session 2

Monday 4 May

Final

1pm

Session 3

7pm

Session 4*