The 2026 Tour Championship (officially the 2026 Sportsbet.io Tour Championship) is a professional snooker tournament that is taking place from 30 March to 5 April 2026 at the Manchester Central in Manchester, England. It features the top 12 players on the oneyear ranking list, as it stood after the 2026 World Open. The eighth consecutive edition of the Tour Championship since it was first staged in 2019, it is the 17th and penultimate ranking event of the 2025âÂÂ26 snooker season, following the 2026 World Open and preceding the 2026 World Snooker Championship. It is the last of three events in the season's Players Series, following the 2026 World Grand Prix and the 2026 Players Championship. The tournament is being broadcast by 5 in the United Kingdom, by Eurosport in mainland Europe, by local channels in Asia and Africa, and by WST Play in all other territories. The winner will receive ã150,000 from a total prize fund of ã500,000.
John Higgins is the defending champion, having defeated Mark Selby 108 in the 2025 final.
First held in 2019, the Tour Championship is the only event on the professional tour other than the World Snooker Championship to feature multi- matches throughout the entire tournament. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the inaugural edition, staged in Llandudno, Wales, with a 1311 victory over Neil Robertson in the final. The field of players was originally the top eight on the one-year ranking list, but it was subsequently expanded to the top 12, beginning with the 2024 edition.
The 2026 edition of the tournamentâÂÂits eighth consecutive staging since the inaugural edition in 2019âÂÂis taking place from 30 March to 5 April at the Manchester Central in Manchester, England. It is the 17th and penultimate ranking event of the 2025âÂÂ26 snooker season, following the 2026 World Open and preceding the 2026 World Snooker Championship; it is also the last of three events in the season's Players Series, following the 2026 World Grand Prix and the 2026 Players Championship. John Higgins is the defending champion, having defeated Mark Selby 108 in the 2025 final to win the title for the first time. As with the previous edition, there is a free fan zone at the venue.
The event features 12 participants. The top four seeds received byes to the quarter-finals. Players seeded 5 through 8 are facing players seeded 9 through 12 for the other four quarter-final places. All matches, including the final, are played as the best of 19 , held over two .
Unlike other events where the defending champion is seeded first, the reigning World Champion second, and the rest based on the world rankings, the qualification and seedings in the Players Series tournaments are determined by the one-year ranking list. The top 12 players on that list, as it stood after the 2026 World Open, automatically qualified for the tournament. Ronnie O'Sullivan was in eighth place at the cutoff but had elected not to enter; this meant that the player ranked 13th became eligible. By winning the 2026 World Open, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh advanced from 31st to 10th place and qualified for the event. This displaced Xiao Guodong to 14th place, making him no longer eligible.
The below list shows the top 12 seeds for the event, determined by their ranking points earned from the beginning of the 202526 season until the conclusion of the 2026 World Open:
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The tournament is being broadcast in the United Kingdom by 5, which is televising the event for the first time, replacing previous broadcaster ITV. In mainland Europe, it is being broadcast by Eurosport, with streaming coverage on Discovery+ in Germany, Italy, and Austria and on HBO Max in other European territories. It is being broadcast in mainland China by , Huya, CBSAWPBSA Academy WeChat Channel and CBSAWPBSA Academy Douyin; in Hong Kong by Now TV; in Malaysia and Brunei by Astro SuperSport; in Taiwan by Sportcast; in Thailand by TrueSports; in the Philippines by TAP Sports; in Singapore by Star Hub; and in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya by SportyTV. In territories where no other coverage is available, including the Republic of Ireland, the tournament is being streamed by WST Play.
The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
The world number one Judd Trump faced Mark Allen, who had been runner-up to Stephen Maguire at the 2020 edition. Despite making a highest of only 38 in the first four , Allen won all four on the . After the mid-session interval, Trump made breaks including 71, 104, and 88 as he also won four consecutive frames, tying the scores at 44 after the first . When play resumed for the second session, Allen won frame nine with a century break of 121, but Trump tied the scores at 55 and then moved ahead for the first time by winning frame 11 on a . Allen tied the scores at 66 with another century of 121, but Trump won frame 13 with a century of 114 and then came from 42 points behind to take frame 14 with an 86 , moving two frames ahead at 86. Allen won the 15th frame, but Trump took the 16th with a 67 break to lead 97. In frame 17, Trump missed a while on a break of 35, and Allen made a frame-winning clearance of 79. Trump produced a century of 100 in frame 18 to complete a 108 win, securing his first victory at the Tour Championship since the 2020 edition. "At 44 I was delighted, and tonight was a great standard," Trump said afterwards. "I have been consistent for the last five or six months, I have had a lot of semis and finals. I am happy with my form."
Barry Hawkins, recent winner of the 2026 Welsh Open, faced Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, recent winner of the 2026 World Open. Hawkins took two of the first three frames, but Un-Nooh won frame four with a century of 103 and also took frame five to move 32 ahead. Hawkins then made breaks including 79 and 86 as he won three consecutive frames, ending the opening session with a 53 advantage. When play resumed for the second session, Un-Nooh won frame nine on the colours, but Hawkins took frame 10 with a century of 101. Un-Nooh won frame 11 after the last and went on to make breaks including 48 and 62 as he also won the next two, moving 76 ahead. Un-Nooh missed a red in frame 14 while on a break of 50, and Hawkins tied the scores at 77 with a clearance of 72. Un-Nooh won frame 16 with a 66 break but missed a red in frame 16 while on a break of 48, and Hawkins tied the scores again at 88 with a 68 break. After winning a tactical battle on the last two reds to take frame 17, Hawkins made a 63 break in frame 18 and went on to win it on the colours, completing a 108 victory. "I nicked quite a few frames," Hawkins commented afterwards. "I didn't feel I played great, I was just battling away. It was getting twitchy at the end so it's a great win. I have had good runs in this event, especially as it's such a tough event just to win matches in, given the players who qualify."
Chris Wakelin played Wu Yize, who had entered the top 16 for the first time that season after winning the 2025 International Championship. Wu produced breaks of 73, 74, 84, 75, and 81 as he moved into a 62 lead after the first session. In the second session, Wakelin made breaks including 84, 62, and 108 as he won all eight frames played, defeating Wu 106. "The way Wu played in the first session, I went to bed last night thinking I can't compete with that," Wakelin commented after the match. "I knew I had to come out tonight and find my own form and get something going. He missed a couple of balls in the first frame and I thought I could apply some pressure. Once I got back to 64, it was game on."
The defending champion John Higgins faced the 2024 winner Mark Williams, who won the first two frames with breaks of 59 and 121. Higgins won the remaining six frames of the session, making breaks including 64 and 73 as he took a 62 lead. In the second session, Higgins made an 84 break to win frame nine, his seventh consecutive frame of the match, for a 72 lead. Williams took frame 10 after Higgins missed a pot on the last , made breaks of 74 and 82 to win frames 11 and 12, and also took frame 13 to reduce Higgins's lead to one at 76. Higgins produced a century of 110 to move 86 ahead, but Williams made breaks of 107 and 76 as he tied the scores at 88. Despite having lost six of the previous seven frames, Higgins won the last two frames for a 108 victory, finishing with a match-winning break of 52. It was the first time Higgins had beaten Williams in a multi-session match since the semi-finals of the 2011 World Championship. "I am delighted to do to Mark [Williams] what he has done to me in the last few years. Making a frame-winning break at the end was very pleasing," said Higgins afterwards. "It would have been a tough loss having been 72 in front. I always knew Mark was going to come back at me."
Trump faced Shaun Murphy, who won the opening two frames with breaks of 72 and 59. Trump won frame three on the colours and then made a of 140 to tie the scores at 22 at the mid-session interval. Trump won frame five after Murphy on the last , but Murphy took the next two with breaks of 132 and 71. Trump won the last of the session to tie the scores at 44. When play resumed, Trump took frame nine, but Murphy then won three in a row, making breaks including 69 and 127 to lead 75. Trump made breaks of 62 and 86 to tie the scores at 77. Murphy won frame 15, but Trump won the next two with breaks of 90 and 137 to move 98 ahead. Murphy made a 96 break to level at 99. In the , Murphy lost position while on a break of 30 and missed an attempted on a red, allowing Trump to secure a 109 victory with a 59 break. It was the first time Trump had won a deciding frame that season, having lost his previous eight. "Having not won a decider all season, it was tough," Trump commented. "In my most successful seasons I have won nearly all of my deciding frames and that can give you a lifeline in tournaments."
Hawkins is playing Neil Robertson, the number one seed and the only multiple winner in the event's history, having claimed back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. The scores were tied at 22 at the mid-session interval, Hawkins having made two and Robertson one. Robertson won frame five after a safety exchange on the last , but Hawkins tied the scores at 33 with a 63 break. Robertson won frame seven after laying a snooker on the last brown and also took frame eight with a 78 break to end the session 53 ahead.
Wakelin is playing the reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong, winner of the season's two previous Players Series events, the 2026 World Grand Prix and the 2026 Players Championship. Zhao made breaks including 103 and 93 as he won the first three frames, but Wakelin made a 76 to win frame four. After the mid-session interval, Zhao won frame five with a 58 break. Wakelin took frame six, but Zhao made a century of 120 to win frame seven. Helped by a break of 57, Wakelin won the last of the session to leave Zhao with a 53 advantage.
Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seedings and players in bold denote match winners. All matches are played as the best of 19 . Seeds 1 to 4 received a bye in the first round.
A total of 17 century breaks have been made during the tournament.