Snooker's next ranking event is the Shenzhen Open, from 28 September

Snooker's ranking circuit takes a short break this week before the Shenzhen Open, the sixth ranking event of the 2026/27 season, which runs from 28 September to 4 October in China.

The calendar from here

The Shenzhen Open is the tournament that used to be the Xi'an Grand Prix, relocated and rebranded for this season. Mark Williams goes in as the holder of the old title: he beat Shaun Murphy 10-3 in the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix final. Qualifying for the main draw was played back in July at Leicester Arena.

Where the season stands

Ali Carter won the English Open on 13 September, beating Mark Williams in the final at the Brentwood Centre for his first English Open title. A week earlier at the British Open in Cheltenham, Duane Jones stunned Mark Selby in the final for the biggest win of his career, having knocked out Judd Trump in the semi-finals on the way.

Zhao Xintong went top of the world rankings after beating Neil Robertson in Wuhan in August.

Mark Allen has extended his absence from the tour with another withdrawal.

Watching from Pakistan

China is three hours ahead of Pakistan, so Shenzhen Open sessions that start at 2:30pm and 7:30pm local time land at 11:30am and 4:30pm Pakistan time. That is the friendliest snooker window of the year for viewers here: the UK events mostly play out late at night Pakistan time, with evening sessions starting at 11pm or later once British Summer Time is in effect.

Pakistan has a deep amateur snooker scene and a three-time IBSF world champion in Muhammad Asif, who won his third world amateur title in 2024. Pakistani players compete mainly on the IBSF and Asian amateur circuits rather than on the professional ranking tour.