Burden earns World Championship spot for 'Exceptional Performance' as selection criteria announced

The main venue, televised stages of the Championship take place at the Crucible Theatre between April 18 to May 4, but before then elsewhere in Sheffield, qualification will be played (April 6-15) where 16 cueists will emerge to join the top 16 seeds for the big party.

Should exactly the same format be used as it has been in recent years, a total of 144 players will be part of this year’s Championship. The world’s top 16 ranked stars - following the conclusion of the 2026 Tour Championship in Manchester - go straight through to the main draw at the Crucible. As reigning champion, Zhao Xintong will be the number one seed.

The other 128 contestants all go to qualifying, which features a tiered format, meaning players enter the fray depending on their world ranking/seeding. There are four qualifying rounds in total, with the lowest ranked and amateur invites starting in round one, and those seeded 17 to 48 beginning in round three. All current professional tour card holders are permitted to enter.

In order to fill the 144-player quota, standout amateur players have been invited to take part, earning selection for their results on the secondary tier of the sport over the past 12 months.

Last year, China’s Zhao famously won the sport’s blue riband prize technically as an amateur. Zhao won an invitation to the qualifiers for finishing top of that season’s Q Tour Europe rankings list, and had to navigate four preliminary assignments just to reach the Crucible phase.

How will amateur players be invited to the 2026 World Snooker Championship?

Following an announcement from the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), 16 amateurs will receive a spot at the qualifiers.

One of those is Alfie Burden, who got the nod for his ‘Exceptional Performance’ of winning December’s Snooker Shoot Out professional event in Blackpool.

Burden - who also won the World Seniors Snooker Championship for the first time earlier in the year - currently does not have a professional tour card following relegation, but was a very late call-up for the Shoot Out on the day due to his standing on the Q School order of merit.

The Londoner travelled up, went on to conquer the whole event and claim his maiden ranking event crown in fairy-tale fashion. That triumph should almost definitely see him accumulate enough points to re-earn his top-flight status for next season.

Half of the amateur tickets are set aside for players from the 2026 World Snooker Federation Championships (essentially the world amateur championships) with all four semi-finalists from the main ‘open’ and junior events getting in. Ukraine’s Michael Larkov recently defeated Wang Xinbo in the final held in Bulgaria to secure the junior WSF crown.

The winner of this season’s Q Tour Europe rankings list - the avenue Zhao used in 2025 - is reserved a place, as too is the next highest ranked eligible player in those standings. The three cueists who come through the Q Tour Global Playoffs - which are scheduled for Spain in March - will also have access.

The remaining two berths are for the winners of the European Under-18 and Under-21 Championships, which are also held in Gandia, Spain.

Should any current professionals not be in the draw, those spots will be filled through last year’s Q School order of merit.