The 2026 Welsh Open (officially the 2026 BetVictor Welsh Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 23 February to 1 March 2026 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales. Qualifying took place from 9 to 10 January at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England. The 35th consecutive edition of the Welsh Open since it was first staged in 1992, the tournament was the 15th ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2026 Players Championship and preceding the 2026 World Open. It was the fourth and final tournament in the season's Home Nations Series, following the 2025 English Open, the 2025 Northern Ireland Open, and the 2025 Scottish Open. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £550,400.
Mark Selby was the defending champion, having defeated Stephen Maguire 9–6 in the 2025 final, but he lost 3–4 to Jiang Jun in the last 64. By defeating John Higgins 6–5 in the semi-finals, Jack Lisowski secured the £150,000 Home Nations Series bonus for earning the most cumulative prize money across the four events. Barry Hawkins won the tournament, defeating Lisowski 9–5 in the final to claim his first Welsh Open title and the fifth ranking title of his career.
The event produced 85 century breaks, 33 in the Sheffield qualifiers and 52 at the main stage in Llandudno, of which the highest was a 144 by Higgins in his last-16 match against Zhang Anda. Chang Bingyu made consecutive centuries of 130, 136, 119, and 130 as he defeated Shaun Murphy 4–0 in the last 64. He became the ninth player to make four consecutive centuries in professional competition and the third player to do so in a best-of-seven encounter. Chang also became the first player in professional snooker history to win a multi- match without missing a single .
Overview The Welsh Open replaced the Welsh Professional Championship, a non-ranking tournament open only to Welsh players that was held in 1922, in 1977, and annually from 1980 to 1991.Snooker Scene, September 1977, p. 10 Open to players of any nationality, the Welsh Open began in 1992 and is now the third-longest-running ranking event, after the World Snooker Championship and the UK Championship. The inaugural winner was Stephen Hendry, who defeated Darren Morgan 9–3 in the 1992 final. During the 2016–17 snooker season, the Welsh Open became part of the newly created Home Nations Series, alongside the English Open, the Northern Ireland Open, and the Scottish Open. At that time, the trophy was named the Ray Reardon Trophy to honour the six-time world champion from Tredegar. Reardon died in 2024, aged 91.
The 2026 edition of the tournament—its 35th consecutive staging since the inaugural edition in 1992—took place from 23 February to 1 March at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales, the fourth consecutive year the tournament was staged at the venue. Qualifying took place from 9 to 10 January at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England. It was the 15th ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2026 Players Championship and preceding the 2026 World Open, as well as the fourth and final tournament in the season's Home Nations Series, following the 2025 English Open, the 2025 Northern Ireland Open, and the 2025 Scottish Open. Mark Selby was the defending champion, having defeated Stephen Maguire 9–6 in the 2025 final to win his second Welsh Open title.
Format The tournament used a tiered format first implemented for the Home Nations Series in the 2024–25 snooker season. In the first qualifying round, players seeded 65–96 faced those seeded 97 and under, including selected amateurs. In the second qualifying round, the 32 winners from the first qualifying round faced players seeded 33–64. At the last-64 stage, the 32 winners from the second qualifying round faced the top 32 seeds.
All matches were played as the best of 7 until the quarter-finals, which were the best of 9. The semi-finals were the best of 11, and the final was a best-of-17-frame match played over two .
Broadcasters The qualifying rounds were broadcast in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Austria by Discovery+ and in other European territories by HBO Max. They were broadcast in mainland China by the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin, Huya Live, and . In all other territories (including Ireland) they were streamed by WST Play.
The main stage was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Wales and BBC Red Button, and streamed on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website. It was also broadcast in the UK and Ireland by TNT Sports and Discovery+. It was broadcast in mainland Europe by Eurosport, with streaming coverage on Discovery+ in Germany, Italy, and Austria and on HBO Max in other European territories. It was broadcast in mainland China by the same broadcasters as the qualifying rounds, in Hong Kong by Now TV, in Malaysia and Brunei by Astro SuperSport, in Thailand by True Sports, in Taiwan by Sportcast, in the Philippines by TAP Sports, and in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya by SportyTV. In territories where no other coverage was available, the tournament was streamed by WST Play.
Prize fund The prize fund for the tournament is detailed below. In addition, the player who won the most cumulative prize money across the season's four Home Nations Series events received a bonus of £150,000. The winner of the bonus in the 2025–26 season was Jack Lisowski.
Winner: £100,000 Runner-up: £45,000 Semi-final: £21,000 Quarter-final: £13,200 Last 16: £9,000 Last 32: £5,400 Last 64: £3,600 Last 96: £1,000 Highest break: £5,000
Total: £550,400
Summary
Qualifying In the first qualifying round, veteran player Jimmy White, aged 63, made three breaks as he defeated Sunny Akani 4–1, while 14-year-old Michał Szubarczyk advanced with a whitewash victory over Hatem Yassen. Marco Fu lost the first two against Xu Yichen, but he produced of 76, 56, 100, and 95 as he recovered to secure a 4–3 victory. Liam Pullen made a century break of 102 as he beat Ken Doherty 4–1.
In the second qualifying round, Luca Brecel, who had fallen to 43rd in the world rankings since winning the 2023 World Championship, took the first two frames against Farakh Ajaib. Brecel lost the next three frames but recovered to win the match in a . Lyu Haotian made a century of 139 as he won the first two frames against Sam Craigie, but Craigie won the match in a deciding frame. Bulcsú Révész whitewashed Noppon Saengkham, while Alexander Ursenbacher defeated Matthew Selt 4–2, and Szubarczyk defeated Jamie Jones by the same score. Amir Sarkhosh recovered from 1–3 behind to beat Scott Donaldson in a decider, while Mitchell Mann defeated Matthew Stevens 4–2. Pullen beat the 2023 winner Robert Milkins in a deciding frame. White failed to reach the main stage, losing 1–4 to David Lilley, and Fu also failed to reach the main stage, losing in a deciding frame to Robbie Williams.
Main stage
Last 64
The defending champion Mark Selby made century breaks of 123 and 137 as he took a 3–1 lead over the world number 81 Jiang Jun. Jiang then won three consecutive frames to secure a 4–3 victory. It was the third time in five years that Selby had lost at the last-64 stage of the tournament. "I was 3–1 behind in no time," Jiang said afterwards. "At that point I honestly didn't think about making a comeback, but I didn't give up either. When it got to the decider, I started to believe I had a chance. The pressure became very strong and my heart was racing." Mark Williams made breaks including 58, 56, and 64 as he secured a 4–2 victory over Michael Holt. "I played solid all the way through, until a few twitches towards the end," said Williams afterwards. "Then I a really good to win the match. I am still not practising between tournaments but at the venues I probably practise more than any other player, three or four hours a day, and that seems to work for me." Jak Jones, who had broken bones in his right hand by punching a table during a practice session the previous December, defeated Liam Highfield 4–1. Dylan Emery defeated Lei Peifan, Yuan Sijun beat Julien Leclercq, and Barry Hawkins defeated Lilley, all in deciding frames.
Neil Robertson defeated Szubarczyk 4–1 but said his 15-year-old opponent had "huge potential" and "great poise around the table." Wu Yize made breaks including 79, 120, and 128 as he whitewashed Ben Mertens, and the previous year's runner-up Stephen Maguire recovered from 1–3 behind to beat Ricky Walden in a decider. The eighth seed Mark Allen lost 2–4 to David Grace, who recovered from 1–2 behind to win the last three frames, making breaks of 59, 55, and 67. "I haven't had many wins over top-16 players so it has to be one of my best ever," Grace said afterwards. Anthony McGill defeated the 18th seed Ali Carter in a deciding frame.
Chang Bingyu made four consecutive century breaks and had a 100% rate as he whitewashed Shaun Murphy, who scored only one in the match. Chang made of 130 and 136, followed by a century of 119 and a further total clearance of 130. He became the ninth player to make four consecutive centuries in a professional match and only the third, after Neil Robertson and Allen, to do so in a best-of-seven match. Chang said: "I honestly didn't expect to play that well today. Before the match, my mindset was more about learning from [Murphy]. After finishing the match, I felt really happy. It was probably the first time I've played at this level in a best-of-seven. Earlier this season I had quite a few matches where I played well and made some good breaks, but making four centuries in a best-of-seven is definitely a first for me." Murphy called it "the best performance in a best-of-seven match I've ever seen."
The reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong made breaks including 65, 132, and 111 as he took a 3–1 lead over Fan Zhengyi. Fan recovered to tie the scores at 3–3, but Zhao won the decider with a 71 break. Gary Wilson made breaks of 93, 135, 118, and 119 as he whitewashed Amir Sarkhosh, while Jackson Page, Stan Moody, and Zhou Yuelong also advanced with whitewash victories, over Luca Brecel, Jimmy Robertson, and Alexander Ursenbacher respectively. Jack Lisowski defeated Louis Heathcote 4–2, and Révész defeated Ryan Day in a decider. Kyren Wilson produced breaks of 65, 65, 100, and 75 as he defeated Liu Hongyu 4–1, and John Higgins made breaks including 56, 51, and 59 as he beat Liu Wenwei by the same score. Pullen produced two centuries of 100 and 107 against the 11th seed Chris Wakelin. The match went to a deciding frame. Wakelin , which he successfully obtained, but he missed the after potting the last , and Pullen won the frame on the . The 17th seed Elliot Slessor lost to Sam Craigie, who made breaks including 99 and 110 and went on to win the match in a deciding frame.
Last 32