World Snooker Championship 2026 | Day One Preview and Order of Play
Zhao is bidding to make Crucible history on Tuesday (PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)
The 2026 World Snooker Championship gets under way on Saturday as Zhao Xintong commences his title defence at The Crucible.
The curtain is raised on the sport’s blue riband event for the 50th staging at the iconic Crucible Theatre, with a host of box office names featuring on opening day in Sheffield.
Zhao is bidding to break the infamous ‘Crucible curse’ by becoming the first player to successfully retain the title at this iconic venue after being crowned a first-time World Champion.
The 29-year-old made history by becoming the first Asian player to win a world title when he blitzed through last year’s field having come through the qualifying rounds.
Zhao returns to The Crucible as the red hot favourite to retain the crown on the back of a scintillating season which has seen him add the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship titles to his haul, becoming only the third player to win over £1 million in prize money a single season after Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump.
The Chinese superstar launches his title defence over two sessions on the opening day of the tournament and takes on world number 92 Liam Highfield.
Highfield returns for a fourth crack at The Crucible and a first since 2022, having defeated Oliver Brown, Wang Yuchen, Stephen Maguire and Oliver Lines in last week’s qualifying rounds.
Meanwhile, three-time World Champion and last year’s runner-up Mark Williams starts out against history-maker Antoni Kowalski.
Williams picked up his 27th ranking title at the Xi’an Grand Prix earlier this season and boasts a magnificent record in the sport’s showpiece event, including last year’s memorable run to the final which included wins over John Higgins and Judd Trump.
The veteran Welshman will look to utilise his vast experience over his 22-year-old opponent – who will become the first Polish player ever to compete in the World Championship.
Kowalski, who has never been beyond the fourth round of any ranking tournament to date, saved his tour card thanks to an incredible display at the qualifiers which featured victories over Connor Benzey, Joe O’Connor and Jamie Jones.
Former UK and Masters champion Mark Allen begins his latest bid to complete the career Triple Crown when he faces former International Champion Zhang Anda.
Allen returns to Sheffield as the 14th seed, with one semi-final appearance sandwiched between four second round exits at The Crucible, and his last first round exit coming in 2020.
The Antrim ace claimed his 12th ranking title at this season’s English Open and reached a further four ranking semi-finals, including at the Players Championship in February.
Zhang, who made his debut here 16 years ago, is bidding for an elusive first win in what is his sixth appearance in the main event.
Runner-up in this season’s World Grand Prix, the world number 22 safely saw off Bulcsú Révész and Zak Surety to secure a third consecutive Crucible berth.
The evening session sees two former world finalists go head-to-head as Barry Hawkins faces Matthew Stevens.
Hawkins was runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan here in 2013 and arrives off the back of claiming his fifth ranking title at the Welsh Open last month.
Stevens’ longevity is underlined by the fact he finished runner-up in 2000 and 2005 and has ended a four-year absence from the sport’s greatest stage after overcoming Peter Lines and 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham at the qualifiers.
This year’s tournament features a record 11 Chinese players, two of which collide in Round One as Xiao Guodong meets Zhou Yuelong.
Ninth seed Xiao successfully retained the Wuhan Open title earlier this season as well as reaching the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix.
Zhou, meanwhile, was runner-up at the English Open last September and is making his fourth World Championship appearance following commanding wins over Robbie McGuigan and Michael Holt in the qualifiers.
The action gets under way from 10am BST, with first round ties to be contested over the best of 19 frames.
WATCH THE WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP STREAMED LIVE HERE
18+ | Funded account required | Please Gamble Responsibly
World Snooker Championship 2026 Day One Schedule
*Indicates final session
Saturday April 18
Round One
10am
Zhao Xintong v Liam Highfield
Mark Allen v Zhang Anda
2.30pm
Xiao Guodong v Zhou Yuelong
Mark Williams v Antoni Kowalski
7pm
Zhao Xintong v Liam Highfield*
Barry Hawkins v Matthew Stevens