Championship League 2026: Season Opener Preview & Fantasy Five Picks

Summer's here and snooker is back. There's a new world champion in Wu Yize, all of 22, who beat Shaun Murphy 18-17 in a final that ran to the very last frame at the Crucible. There's a form man too in Zhao Xintong, who pulled off something no player had managed before and swept all three Players Series titles in a single season. And now the real stuff begins. The 2026/27 ranking campaign opens on Monday 22nd June with the Championship League at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, which finishes on 15th July.

The essentials

• Event: Championship League (ranking), the first ranking event of 2026/27
• Dates: 22nd June to 15th July 2026
• Venue: Mattioli Arena, Leicester (the same building that was the Morningside Arena until 2024)
• Format: Round-robin groups of seven, best-of-five matches, group winners climbing through the stages to a final Winners' Group
• Defending champion: Stephen Maguire, who beat Joe O'Connor 3-1 in last year's final
• Field: 113 players confirmed, and the story is who's missing
• Fantasy Mode deadline: midnight at the start of Monday 22nd June

The cheat sheet

Short on time? Build around these and read on for the why.

• Anchor (Pot 1): Zhao Xintong. He's the only Pot 1 player entered, and he also happens to be the second-highest scorer in the whole game last season.
• Pot 2 (who plays it): Mark Williams or Chris Wakelin. The big Pot 2 names mostly stayed home. These two turned up, and both racked up serious ranking points last season.
• The ×3 gem (Pot 3): Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. He won the World Open with a 147 in the final, yet he's still only Pot 3. The whole pot is in the draw too.
• The ×4 punt (Pot 4): Chang Bingyu. A heavy scorer who reached the Scottish Open final last season, on a quadruple multiplier.
• The ×5 lottery (Pot 5): Alfie Burden. A ranking-title winner last season who's scored at this event before, on the biggest multiplier of all.
• Captain: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. He plays this event, he's in form, and the ×3 makes the armband worth six times over.
• Swerve: pencilling in any of the missing elite. Wu Yize, Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and most of the top two pots are nowhere near Leicester.
• Use your bench: the entire top of Pot 1 and most of Pot 2 are absent, so you can still name a big star for the season and put a player who actually turns up behind them. Your sub steps in for any starter who blanks.

How the pots actually score (read this before you pick)

You pick one player from each of the five pots. The pot does more than set who you're choosing between, it also fixes the multiplier.

A Pot 5 player's ranking points count five times over. So the game is not about picking the five best players, because the best players are in Pots 1 and 2 at face value. The points come from finding a high-pot player who goes on a run, then doubling your best bet with the captain's armband. Last season's totals make the point. The highest-scoring entrant in each pot is rarely the most famous name.

Now multiply those by the pot. Un-Nooh's 292,350 scored at ×3 is worth more than most Pot 1 names at face value, even though he sits two tiers below them.

Who's gone up, who's come down

Pots are reset each summer off the back of the previous season, so a strong or poor year moves players up and down a tier. Here's everyone who switched tier for 2026/27, new tour players aside.

Moved up:

Moved down:

The standout is Wu Yize, the only player to climb two tiers. He was in Pot 3 a year ago, and he's a Pot 1 anchor now after his world title. Un-Nooh's move from Pot 4 to Pot 3 still looks light given he won the World Open. The four big names who slipped from Pot 1 to Pot 2, Ronnie, Williams, Kyren Wilson and Ding, make Pot 2 the tier to target across the season. For this event, though, only Williams and Kyren of that quartet have entered, so keep the gap between a season pick and an opener starter in your head as you read on.

Who's in, and who isn't

This is the part the entry list just settled for us. The Championship League is optional for the elite, and this year almost all of them have given it a miss. The line-up is 113 strong, but look at where the gaps are.

Read the top two rows again. One Pot 1 player entered, out of six. Four of the ten Pot 2 names turned up. Now look at the bottom three. Every single Pot 3 and Pot 4 player is in, and all but three of Pot 5. The multipliers live in those bottom pots, and the whole ×3, ×4 and ×5 line-up has shown up to play.

Here are the names sitting it out where it stings.

The new world champion, the world number one and the most decorated names in the sport are all watching this one from home. The modest prize and three-week slog have always made the Championship League a pick-and-choose event for the big names, while the players ranked below them treat it as a real chance to put a result together.

A word from last season's top two

Two of the managers who finished top last season were good enough to talk me through their teams. Jeremy won the lot playing as "Catch Me If You Cue". Richie came third running "The Baize Invaders".

Both of them ran the same five, as it turns out. Judd Trump in Pot 1, Zhao Xintong in Pot 2, Wu Yize in Pot 3, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in Pot 4 and Zak Surety in Pot 5. One name from each pot, and four of those five have since climbed a tier on the back of last season. You'll hear from both Fantasy managers as we go through the pots.

Pot 1: one name, and it's a good one

No multiplier in this pot, and this year barely any choice. Of the six Pot 1 players, exactly one entered the Championship League, and it's Zhao Xintong. That makes the opener pick easy, and the happy part is that he's a brilliant pick on merit, not just by default. He was the form player of the back half of last season, swept all three Players Series titles unbeaten, and racked up 666,800 ranking points, second only to Wu Yize in the entire game. He skipped this event a year ago. Now he's in, and he's the only route to Pot 1 points in week one.

The other five are season-long holds rather than opener starters. Wu Yize is the obvious one to own for the year. He's world champion at 22, red hot, and last season's highest scorer with 860,300.

Jeremy had him down for exactly this a full year before it happened.

"I also felt Wu Yize was ready to make the step up and establish himself among the game's elite."

Richie has watched him even longer.

"I've followed Wu Yize for a few years now and he's always been my favourite of the Chinese players. I wasn't surprised to see him win a ranking tournament, but it was certainly a massive bonus for my Fantasy Five team for him to win the big one in May."

You can still build your season around Wu. You just can't start him on Monday, because he's not in the event. Name him as your Pot 1 man for the year and keep Zhao on the bench to cover the opener, or simply start Zhao now and shuffle later. John Higgins at 50 remains a shrewd season pick after beating O'Sullivan 13-12 at the Crucible and reaching the semis. Shaun Murphy carries Crucible momentum from his agonising 17-18 final defeat. Neil Robertson won the Saudi Masters and brought up his 1,000th career century. Judd Trump is still number one even if a last-16 Crucible exit took the shine off. None of those four entered this event, so handle all of them the same way. Pick them for the season if you rate them, and let Zhao cover week one from your bench.

Richie owned Trump right through last season and still rates him as a points machine even when the wins dry up. That's the argument for picking him without the armband.

"I thought Trump was an obvious pick following his form the previous season. He didn't perform anywhere near as well as I thought he would, but he's guaranteed to steadily pick up points throughout the season."

Pot 2: the names who turned up

Four of the ten Pot 2 players entered, and two of them scored heavily last season, so this is a better pot for the opener than the headline absences suggest.

Mark Williams is the standout. He keeps rewriting the record books, won the Xi'an Grand Prix to become the oldest ranking-event winner in history at 50, and put together 397,800 ranking points last season, the most of any Pot 2 player in the event. He's the high-floor pick for week one.

Chris Wakelin is the form alternative, and he actually plays this event. He had the season of his career, won the Scottish Open by beating Chang Bingyu in the final, and scored 324,800 ranking points, more than every Pot 2 entrant bar Williams. He also turned out at the Championship League last year, which is more than most of this pot can claim.

Kyren Wilson dropped from Pot 1 after a quieter campaign, but a former world champion at face value is a tidy pick, and he's in the draw. Si Jiahui, 23, is the young Chinese flier of the four. His season was patchy, yet he has real Crucible pedigree with a World Championship semi-final and another deep run at Sheffield behind him, and at ×1 he's a live punt if you fancy a higher ceiling.

The bigger names are all elsewhere. Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby, Mark Allen and Ding Junhui have all skipped this one.

Pot 3: the multiplier sweet spot (×3)

This is the pot where the points really start to move, because everything triples and several of these names are better than their tier. Best of all, every one of the sixteen Pot 3 players is in the draw, so you've got the full ×3 menu to choose from.

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is the standout. He won the World Open in March, beating O'Sullivan 10-7 in the final and rolling in a 147 along the way. Last season he scored 292,350 ranking points. Tripled, that's a colossal return for a Pot 3 pick from a player who was only in Pot 4 a year ago. He plays this event too, which is the clincher for the opener.

Jeremy had him in his five last year, and his reasoning is worth borrowing.

"I chose Thepchaiya because his talent is unquestionable. It's often just a case of whether he's in the right mindset and playing with confidence. Fortunately for me, he was, particularly during the World Open."

Richie kept it simpler.

"Who doesn't love to watch Thepchaiya play? I didn't expect him to win a tournament but was utterly delighted that he did."

Hossein Vafaei might be the most in-form name in the pot, and this year he's in the draw rather than watching from afar. Back from a spinal injury, he beat Trump 13-12 and reached his first World Championship quarter-final, peaking at exactly the right time. He sat this event out last year, so his entry now is a genuine boost, and tripled he's a serious captaincy alternative to Un-Nooh. Jack Lisowski finally got over the line. After six losing finals he won his maiden ranking title at the Northern Ireland Open, beating Trump 9-8, and put up 249,400 ranking points. The only question is whether he kicks on, because his form cooled after he secured a six-figure Home Nations bonus and he then missed the Crucible.

And don't overlook the two men who contested last year's final right here. Stephen Maguire, the defending champion, comes in badly out of form, having failed to qualify for the World Championship. Even so, nobody in this pot scored more at the Championship League last season than his 33,000. Joe O'Connor, the runner-up, put up 23,000 of his own. Their season-long totals sit below the likes of Lisowski, but at this event specifically they've got the pedigree, and on a ×3 multiplier that's worth a long look. Zhou Yuelong (232,200), Zhang Anda (223,650) and Gary Wilson (204,300) each reached a ranking final last season without getting over the line, and Elliot Slessor (210,300) had the best campaign of his career. All four are entered, which makes this the deepest pot on the board.

Pots 4 and 5: where seasons are won (×4 and ×5)

These two pots can decide your whole season. With a quadruple and quintuple multiplier in play, one of these picks on a deep run is worth more than your entire top end. The Championship League's round-robin format helps too, because lower-ranked players get a guaranteed run of short, winnable frames rather than one tie against a top seed. And both pots have turned up in full, every Pot 4 player and all but three of Pot 5.

Jeremy is honest about the bottom two pots, and it's the right frame of mind going in.

"As for the Tier 4 and Tier 5 selections, there's always an element of risk involved, so a bit of luck is usually required."

His own Tier 5 punt last year was Zak Surety, who has since climbed into Pot 4 for this season. That one never quite caught fire, and it still pulled its weight.

"My Tier 5 pick, Zak Surety, was based on his strong previous season and impressive World Championship run. While he didn't quite kick on as I'd hoped, he still contributed enough to help keep me in contention."

Start with Pot 4 (×4).

Chang Bingyu is the form pick, a heavy scorer whose game travels perfectly to round-robin frames. The canny Championship League angle is Ben Mertens, who made the quarters here last year, alongside Ricky Walden and Tom Ford, both of whom scored well at this event in 2025 and both now sitting in Pot 4 on a ×4 multiplier. If you want a player who's actually performed at this tournament rather than a name you hope catches fire, that's where to look.

Now Pot 5, and the biggest multiplier of the lot. Get this pick right and it's the most valuable player on your team, because everything a Pot 5 name scores counts five times over. The faces are less familiar, but the points are real.

Alfie Burden is the smart Pot 5 play for this week in particular. He's a ranking-title winner who also scored at the Championship League last year. He's in the "did well here in 2025" club alongside Sam Craigie and Dylan Emery, both Pot 5 now and both playing this one. A proven name at this event on a ×5 multiplier is exactly the kind of pick that quietly makes your season.

New on the tour

Oliver Sykes is the most hyped, a 20-year-old who topped the English amateur rankings two years running and made a 146 in World Championship qualifying before his card was even confirmed. Then there's Michał Szubarczyk, a teenager from Poland who arrived as one of the youngest professionals the sport has seen after winning the IBSF World Championship. Ukraine's Mykhailo Larkov, 17, comes in as junior world champion, China's Wang Xinbo as a CBSA Tour winner who already won two matches in Crucible qualifying, and Liam Davies, still only 19, bounced straight back through Q School after dropping off the tour. None of them are picks you build around, but in Pot 5 they're exactly the kind of speculative flyer that wins you a week.

One more new name belongs here, and it comes with a story. Phil O'Kane is new to the tour this season and lands straight in Pot 5. Richie is picking him, and the reason goes back a full decade.

"I've followed Zak Surety ever since I saw him in my local club in Margate about ten years ago, when he won the Kent County Cup. I think he beat Phil O'Kane on the way, so I've chosen Phil as one of my picks for this season. It's great to see him get a tour card."

The captain call

One of your five wears the armband and scores double, and you can move it before every event. A Pot 3 captain on a deep run is tripled and then doubled, which is six times the ranking points. For a long round-robin like this, captain someone who relishes the grind and is certain to play, which this week rules out most of the top two pots before you start.

The safe armband is Zhao Xintong, the only top-tier name in the draw and a player who outscored everyone bar Wu Yize last season. He's ×1, though, so the ceiling is capped to double points. The braver, higher-ceiling play is Un-Nooh in Pot 3, where the ×3 turns the armband into a six-times multiplier, and Vafaei is a strong alternative now that he's in the draw too. Whoever you pick, make sure they're actually playing, which this week is the whole point.

A big thank you to Jeremy and Richie, last season's champion and third-placed finisher, who both took the time to talk me through the five they picked and why. Best of luck for the season gents!