Champion of Champions 2026: Draw, Schedule, Prize Money
In short: the 2026 Champion of Champions is played from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 November at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester. Sixteen players who won titles over the past year are split into four groups, one group a day from Monday to Thursday, with the semi-finals on Friday and Saturday nights and the final on Sunday. Play starts at 1pm each day. Mark Selby is the defending champion, the winner takes £150,000, and as an invitation event it carries no world ranking points.
Draw and schedule (UK time)
Each day opens with two best-of-seven matches from 1pm, the second following the first (listed for 3pm), and the two winners meet in the 7pm group final.
Monday 9 November, Group 1: Mark Selby v Alfie Burden; Barry Hawkins v Chris Wakelin.
Tuesday 10 November, Group 4: Neil Robertson v Panchaya Channoi; Judd Trump v Jak Jones.
Wednesday 11 November, Group 3: Shaun Murphy v Ronnie O'Sullivan; Wu Yize v Chang Bingyu.
Thursday 12 November, Group 2: Zhao Xintong v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh; Kyren Wilson v Ali Carter.
Semi-finals: Friday 13 and Saturday 14 November, 7pm.
Final: Sunday 15 November, 1pm and 7pm sessions.
Format
Group openers are best of seven, group finals and semi-finals best of 11, and the final best of 19. The four group winners make the semi-finals, so the champion needs four wins, and the first of them comes in a short best-of-seven.
Prize money
The total prize fund is £440,000, according to the tournament's official site: winner £150,000, runner-up £60,000, losing semi-finalists £30,000 each, group runners-up £17,500 each and first-round losers £12,500 each. Because it is an invitation event, none of it counts towards the world rankings.
How the 16 qualified
The field is made up of the past year's title winners on the World Snooker Tour, including the women's and seniors' tours, topped up from the world rankings if there are not enough. From the qualification table on Wikipedia:
Mark Selby (defending champion, also UK Championship and China Open); Zhao Xintong (World Grand Prix, Players Championship, Tour Championship and more); Wu Yize (World Championship, 2025 International Championship, Shenzhen Open); Kyren Wilson (Masters, Northern Ireland Open); Judd Trump (German Masters, Shanghai Masters); Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (World Open); Chang Bingyu (Wuhan Open); Chris Wakelin (Scottish Open); Barry Hawkins (Welsh Open); Jak Jones (British Open, Championship League); Ali Carter (English Open); Alfie Burden (Shoot Out); Panchaya Channoi (World Women's Championship); Ronnie O'Sullivan (World Seniors Championship); Shaun Murphy (World Championship runner-up); Neil Robertson (ranking top-up).
Wilson's International Championship win in Nanjing on Saturday came after he had already qualified; the runner-up there, John Higgins, has not won a title in the past year and is not in the field.
Players to watch
Wilson arrives on a 12-match winning run after back-to-back titles in Belfast and Nanjing. Group 2, on Thursday, also has world No 1 Zhao, who lost to Chang in the Nanjing quarter-finals, and Un-Nooh, who made a 147 there. Group 3 opens with Murphy against O'Sullivan, the event's record four-time winner, followed by an all-Chinese match between world champion Wu and Chang, who reached the semi-finals in Nanjing and, according to the World Snooker Tour, is making his Champion of Champions debut. The World Snooker Tour also picked out Channoi, the 18-year-old world women's champion from Thailand, as one of the stories of the week. Selby beat Trump 10–5 in last year's final.
How to watch and tickets
According to the World Snooker Tour, ITV shows the event live in the UK, DAZN in Germany, Fox Sports in Australia and Viaplay in Iceland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia; more international partners are to be announced, and in territories without a broadcaster every match streams on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel. Spectator tickets start at £15 per session.
Quick answers
Is the Champion of Champions a ranking event? No. It is an invitation event, so prize money does not count towards the world rankings.
Where is it played? At the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, Selby's home city.
What time does it start? 1pm UK time each day, with the group finals and semi-finals at 7pm and the final over 1pm and 7pm sessions on Sunday.
More: Champion of Champions live scores and results and our International Championship review.