The 2026 Tour Championship (officially the 2026 Sportsbet.io Tour Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 30 March to 5 April 2026 at the Manchester Central in Manchester, England. It featured the top 12 players on the one-year 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 was the 17th and penultimate ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2026 World Open and preceding the 2026 World Championship. It was the last of three events in the season's Players Series, following the 2026 World Grand Prix and the 2026 Players Championship. The tournament was 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 received £150,000 from a total prize fund of £500,000.
John Higgins was the defending champion, having defeated Mark Selby 10–8 in the 2025 final, but he lost 1–10 to Zhao Xintong in the semi-finals. Zhao went on to defeat Judd Trump 10–3 in the final to win his sixth ranking title. Having already won the 2026 World Grand Prix and the 2026 Players Championship, Zhao became the first player to win all three Players Series events in the same season. The winner's prize made him the third player, after Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan, to surpass £1 million in prize money in a single season. He advanced to a career high of fourth in the world rankings after the event. The tournament produced 24 century breaks, of which the highest was a 140 by Trump in his quarter-final match against Shaun Murphy.
Overview
First held in 2019, the Tour Championship is the only event on the professional tour other than the World Championship to feature multi- matches throughout the entire tournament. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the inaugural edition, staged in Llandudno, Wales, with a 13–11 victory over Neil Robertson in the final. The field of players was originally the top 8 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 tournament—its eighth consecutive staging since the inaugural edition in 2019—took place from 30 March to 5 April at the Manchester Central in Manchester, England. It was the 17th and penultimate ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2026 World Open and preceding the 2026 World Championship; it was 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 was the defending champion, having defeated Mark Selby 10–8 in the 2025 final to win the title for the first time. As with the previous edition, there was a free fan zone at the venue.
Format The event featured 12 participants. The top four seeds received byes to the quarter-finals. Players seeded 5 through 8 faced players seeded 9 through 12 for the other four quarter-final places. All matches, including the final, were played as the best of 19 , held over two sessions.
Seeding list 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 2025–26 season until the conclusion of the 2026 World Open:
Seed Player Points 1 648,500 2 466,550 3 424,350 4 398,900 5 372,350 6 347,800 Seed Player Points 7 340,300 8 288,800 9 272,100 10 264,800 11 259,600 12 259,350
Broadcasters The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by 5, which televised the event for the first time, replacing previous broadcaster ITV. In mainland Europe, it was broadcast 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 , Huya, CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, and CBSA-WPBSA 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 was available, including the Republic of Ireland, the tournament was streamed by WST Play.
Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
Winner: £150,000 Runner-up: £60,000 Semi-final: £40,000 Quarter-final: £30,000 Last 12: £20,000 Highest break: £10,000
Total: £500,000
Summary
First round
In the first round, players seeded 5 through 8 faced players seeded 9 through 12. The world number one and fifth seed Judd Trump faced the twelfth seed Mark Allen. Despite making a highest of only 38 in the first four , Allen won all four on the . 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, Allen won frame nine with a century break of 121, but Trump tied the scores at 5–5 and then moved ahead for the first time by winning frame 11 on a . Allen tied the scores at 6–6 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 8–6. Allen won the 15th frame, but Trump took the 16th with a 67 break to lead 9–7. 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 10–8 win, his first victory at the Tour Championship since the 2020 edition. "At 4–4 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."
The eighth seed Barry Hawkins, recent winner of the 2026 Welsh Open, faced the ninth seed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, recent winner of the 2026 World Open. Un-Nooh led 3–2, but Hawkins then made breaks including 79 and 86 as he won three consecutive frames, ending the opening session with a 5–3 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 also won the next two, moving 7–6 ahead. Un-Nooh missed a red in frame 14 while on a break of 50, and Hawkins tied the scores at 7–7 with a clearance of 72. Un-Nooh won frame 15 with a 66 break but missed a red in frame 16 while on a break of 48, and Hawkins tied the scores again at 8–8 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 10–8 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."
The seventh seed Wu Yize, who had entered the top 16 for the first time that season after winning the 2025 International Championship, faced the tenth seed Chris Wakelin. Wu produced breaks of 73, 74, 84, 75, and 81 as he moved into a 6–2 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 10–6. "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 6–4, it was game on."
The 2024 winner and sixth seed Mark Williams played the defending champion and eleventh seed John Higgins. Williams made a century of 121 as he took a 2–0 lead, but Higgins won the remaining six frames of the session to lead 6–2. In the second session, Higgins made an 84 break to win frame nine, his seventh consecutive frame of the match, for a 7–2 lead. Williams took frame 10 after Higgins missed a 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 7–6. Higgins produced a century of 110 to move 8–6 ahead, but Williams made breaks of 107 and 76 as he tied the scores at 8–8. Despite having lost six of the previous seven frames, Higgins won the last two frames for a 10–8 victory. 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," said Higgins afterwards. "It would have been a tough loss having been 7–2 in front."
Quarter-finals In the quarter-finals, the first-round winners played the top four seeds. Trump faced the number four seed Shaun Murphy, who won the opening two frames. Trump took frame three on the colours, made a of 140 to win frame four, and then took frame five after Murphy on the last , moving 3–2 ahead. Murphy won the next two frames with breaks of 132 and 71, but Trump won the last of the session to tie the scores at 4–4. When play resumed, Trump took frame nine, but Murphy then won three in a row, making breaks including 69 and 127 to lead 7–5. Trump responded with breaks of 62 and 86 to tie the scores at 7–7. Murphy won frame 15, but Trump won the next two with breaks of 90 and 137 to move 9–8 ahead. Murphy made a 96 break in frame 18 to level at 9–9. In the , Murphy lost position while on a break of 30 and missed an attempted on a red, allowing Trump to secure a 10–9 victory with a 59 break. It was the first time Trump had won a deciding frame that season, out of nine played. "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 played the number one seed Neil Robertson, who had claimed back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. The scores were tied at 2–2 and 3–3, but Robertson won frame seven after laying a snooker on the last brown and took frame eight with a 78 break to end the session 5–3 ahead. In the second session, Hawkins won four consecutive frames to lead 7–5, but Robertson narrowed Hawkins' lead to one frame at 8–7. In frame 16, Hawkins was on a break of 55 when he missed a pot on the . Robertson recovered to win the frame after laying a snooker on the last red, tying the scores at 8–8, and went on to secure a 10–8 victory. "The frame to go 8–8 was massive," Robertson said afterwards. "I had a good tactical train of thought. I was thinking ahead and staying calm." Wakelin faced the reigning World Champion and number two seed Zhao Xintong, winner of the season's two previous Players Series events, the 2026 World Grand Prix and the 2026 Players Championship. Zhao made centuries of 103 and 120 in the first session, ending it 5–3 ahead. In the second session, Zhao won five of the six frames played, making three further centuries of 134, 108, and 101 as he completed a 10–4 victory, his first win at the Tour Championship.