International Championship 2026: Nanjing from 31 October, Rs 6.4 crore top prize, no O'Sullivan

Snooker's next ranking event, the International Championship, starts in Nanjing, China on Saturday 31 October and runs to Saturday 7 November, with Chinese star Wu Yize defending the title and a top prize of £175,000 (about Rs 6.44 crore). Nanjing is three hours ahead of Pakistan time.

The key facts

• Dates: 31 October to 7 November 2026
• Venue: South New City National Fitness Center, Nanjing
• Prize fund: £825,000 (about Rs 30.4 crore). Winner £175,000, runner-up £75,000 (about Rs 2.76 crore). Rupee figures use the pound at Rs 368.28 on our currency converter.
• Format: every match best of 11 frames until the semi-finals, which are best of 17, according to the event's Wikipedia page, which draws on World Snooker Tour announcements.
• Defending champion: Wu Yize, who beat John Higgins 10-6 in the 2025 final.

Who is in Nanjing

Qualifying was played at the Leicester Arena in England from 17 to 19 September. Big names including Higgins, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Kyren Wilson had to come through it, Totally Snookered reported. Wu, world number one Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui, who received the host's invitation, went straight to the main draw, along with matches involving Chinese amateur wildcards that are held over to the venue.

Ronnie O'Sullivan will not be there. The seven-time world champion, who had said he would not play qualifiers, was drawn in Leicester but withdrew, and Joshua Thomond took his place. O'Sullivan is fighting to stay inside the world's top 16, and missing a ranking event with £175,000 for the winner does not help.

Why it matters

The International Championship is the last ranking event before the UK Championship, the first of the season's three Triple Crown events, so it is the final chance for players to move up the rankings before York. That matters for O'Sullivan, 14th in the world, who has not won a ranking title in more than two and a half years, Totally Snookered noted, and who has now skipped several events. BBC Sport has called Chinese snooker's run this autumn a new high, and Wu, Zhao and Ding all start in front of a home crowd.

How to follow it from Pakistan

Nanjing is three hours ahead of Pakistan, so a session starting at 10am in China begins at 7am PKT, and an evening session at 7pm in China starts at 4pm PKT. Live scores for every match are on the World Snooker Tour website and app. We will report the final weekend with the final's Pakistan time.

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