The 2026 Players Championship Snooker is taking place from February 17-22 in Telford as the latest ranking event of the season.
The tournament is into the 10th edition since first debuting in the current format in 2017, and features the top 16 players in the one-year ranking list.
Kyren Wilson has failed to qualify to defend the crown he won when beaten Judd Trump 10-9 in the 20264 final at the Telford International Centre.
Insteasd, Neil Robertson is the top seed and starts out against John Higgins, who earned a spot in the field when Ronnie O'Sullivan opted not to compete.
Players Championship Snooker Schedule & Format
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Last 16 | February 17-29 |
| Quarter-Finals | February 20 |
| Semi-Finals | February 21 |
| Final | February 22 |
Players Championship Snooker Draw & Format
The tournament features the top 16 players in the one-year world rankings with the seedings based purely on that list and not with the defending champion as top seed.
That means 2025 champion Kyren Wilson is not part of the field after failing to reach the top over the last 12 months.
Neil Robertson is the top seed, while John Higgins comes into the event in place of Ronnie O'Sullivan after he opted against competing in Telford.
The draw is a bracket with seed one playing the 16th ranked player and so on. Matches are played over 11 frames and the final played over 19.
First Round Draw:
- Neil Robertson (1) vs John Higgins (16)
- Chris Wakelin (8) vs Xiao Guodong (9)
- Judd Trump (5) vs Zhou Yuelong (12)
- Mark Williams (4) vs Barry Hawkins (13)
- Shaun Murphy (3) vs Zhang Anda (14)
- Zhao Xintong (6) vs Elliot Slessor (11)
- Wu Yize (7) vs Mark Allen (10)
- Mark Selby (2) vs Jack Lisowski (15)
Players Championship Snooker Prize Money
| Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | £150,000 |
| Runner-up | £70,000 |
| Semi-Finals | £35,000 |
| Quarter-Finals | £25,000 |
| Last 16 | £15,000 |
| Highest Break | £10,000 |