Why 2026 World Snooker Championship is set to be unpredictable thriller as Ronnie O'Sullivan returns with main character energy
By Dave Hendon
Updated 04/04/2026 at 13:10 GMT+1
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In his latest column, Dave Hendon previews the 2026 World Snooker Championship, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max from April 18 to May 4. Ronnie O'Sullivan is coming off a World Open final defeat, in a tournament in which he stole all the headlines, while reigning champion Zhao Xintong is looking to finally bring an end to the infamous 'Crucible Curse'.
WATCH IN FULL - Every pot from O'Sullivan's history-making break of 153
Video credit: TNT Sports
As snooker fans digest the news that the World Championship will remain at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre until at least 2045, thoughts are turning to this year’s event.
Qualifying begins on April 6, before defending champion Zhao Xintong gets the final stages underway on April 18, with all the action live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
It seems every year we judge the championship to be the most open ever, but the way this season has played out offers few clues as to who will eventually walk away with the trophy on May 4. There have been 15 different winners from 16 ranking events.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is not among them, but his run to the World Open final last week suggests he can go a long way in the 17-day marathon as he attempts to win an eighth title and break the tie with Stephen Hendry once and for all.
In Yushan, he made almost all of the headlines. You can’t blame O’Sullivan for exhibiting main character energy when he is still the leading figure in snooker’s pot-boiling drama. His world-record 153 break in the quarter-finals was arguably the highlight of the season.
Missing in action for much of the campaign, he at times looked very impressive in China and did very little – in fact nothing – wrong to lose the last three frames of the final as Thepchaiya Un-Nooh fashioned three total clearances to deny him.
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‘What a story’ - Un-Nooh 'stuns' O’Sullivan to become World Open champion
Video credit: TNT Sports
However, a week of best-of-nine-frame matches bears no relation to the mental and physical demands of the World Championship, where players need to win 71 frames from gun to tape to be crowned champion.
The skill to winning in Sheffield is not to play well all the time, but to manage the moments when you are struggling.
Players such as John Higgins, Mark Williams and Mark Selby are experts at escaping from sessions where they’ve been below their best still level at 4-4 rather than 6-2 down. They have 11 world titles between them.
O’Sullivan is a fine tactical player but can become frustrated if his potting and scoring is letting him down.
We saw glimpses of this in the second half of the opening session of the World Open final where his 4-0 lead turned into a 5-4 deficit, allowing Un-Nooh a way back into the match.
Resilience in the tough moments will be the key to survival at the Crucible, but O’Sullivan has mastered these challenges before – seven times to be exact.
He may not be the bookmakers’ favourite any more, but he is still a major threat, with an aura that can be worth several frames start against anyone.
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'The best snooker I've ever played' - O'Sullivan picks favourite tournament wins
Video credit: TNT Sports
Crucially, he himself has talked up the possibility of the eighth triumph. It’s on his mind and would be the crowning moment of his career should he pull it off.
It could be, though, that the unique demands of the championship now favours younger players.
The last three winners of the title, Luca Brecel, Kyren Wilson and Zhao Xintong, were aged 28, 32 and 28, respectively. They were also all first-time winners.
Brecel will have to qualify this year but Wilson and Zhao are big contenders. Wilson won the Shanghai Masters in early season and the Masters in January.
Cue trouble has blighted him in several ranking events, but he may be a little fresher than some of the other top players, just as he was when he went all the way in 2024.
Zhao is the only player to win two ranking titles this season but, of course, has the fabled ‘Crucible Curse’ to get over.
No first-time champion has defended the title in Sheffield, although the happy-go-lucky Chinese superstar is unlikely to be losing sleep over this, or much else besides.
Zhao seems to take everything in his stride and was like a hot knife through butter at times last year, not least in dismantling O’Sullivan with a session to spare in their semi-final.
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'Immaculate snooker' - Zhao runs riot over O'Sullivan with another century in dominant session
Video credit: TNT Sports
Of the other big hitters, Selby, Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy seem likely to feature prominently.
Selby has actually lost in the first round in each of the last two years, but won the UK Championship this season and his best game is made for the Crucible, as he proved in winning the title in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021.
Trump’s year was 2019, and it feels surprising he hasn’t won it since. This season, he’s captured one title and reached three other finals.
A Dubai resident, his living situation is in flux due to the Middle East conflict, so this additional stress could have an adverse effect, or he may just be relieved to be where he really does feel at home – on the snooker table.
Murphy has appeared in four world finals, winning his first in 2005. He has won more matches in ranking events than anyone else this season.
A devastating potter, few players enjoy the theatre aspect of the Crucible more than Murphy, in his element with the crowd behind him, and he has hung up his commentary microphone to focus fully on playing.
Murphy, Zhao and Terry Griffiths are the three qualifiers to have won the title since the Crucible years began in 1977.
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Watch in FULL as Un-Nooh makes 'genius' 147 in World Open final against O'Sullivan
Video credit: TNT Sports
This year, as well as Brecel, there could be some very dangerous players gunning for the seeds in round one. Un-Nooh will have to qualify unless he wins the Tour Championship, in which case he will relegate Ding Junhui from the top 16 and cast him into the qualifying jungle.
Jack Lisowski now has the confidence of a tournament winner after landing the Northern Ireland Open. Chang Bingyu is an exceptional talent, who made four centuries to drub Murphy 4-0 at the Welsh Open.
Next week’s Tour Championship, with its best-of-19-frame matches, will provide some clues as to who is in shape for Sheffield, although no player has ever won this and the World Championship back-to-back.
The truth is, the game’s premier event is out on its own, and the fact that there is no obvious favourite this year points to an unpredictable, and thrilling, Crucible fortnight to come.
Stream the 2026 World Snooker Championship live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
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