With 30+ years in racing and betting, Darren helps punters develop their skills. As OLBG’s Tipster boss and expert guide, he turns insight into winning strategy.
China Open Snooker
The China Open returns to the snooker calendar after a seven year hiatus, initially brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and the following restrictions brought into place following the pandemic.
The event returns with 32 players at the new venue, the Riverside Sports Centre in Taiyuan. The qualifying event for the China Open was played in Leicester in June with sixteen players making it through qualifying to play in Taiyuan.
Michael Holt made the first maximum break of his career when defeating Mark Joyce in Round Two of qualifying but failed to make it through to China after losing to Noppon Saengkham in Round Three. Holt is in prime position for the £15,000 highest break prize for this tournament.
A number of high-ranking players failed to make it through the qualifying stages including:
- Jack Lisowski (17)
- Elliot SLessor (19)
- Ali Carter (22)
- Gary Wilson (24)
- Joe O’Connor (27)
- Luca Brecel (44)
Need some help making a selection for the China Open? OLBG's Best Snooker Tipsters page is a good place to begin your research.
China Open Snooker
Neil Robertson must hold the record for the longest reigning champion in snooker with over seven years since he lifted the China Open trophy back in April 2019.
Due to Covid-19 and subsequent travel restrictions, the tournament was removed from the World Snooker calendar but has been reintroduced this season with a boost in prize money that brings the China Open to an equivalent level with the UK Championship. The revamped prize money for the 2026 event is as follows:
- Winner: £250,000
- Runner-up: £100,000
- Semi-finalists: £50,000
- Quarter-finalists: £25,000
- Last 16: £15,000
- Last 32: £10,000
- Last 48: £7,500
- Last 80: £5,000
- Last 112: £2,500
- Highest break: £15,000
Who are the players who thrive when playing in Asia? Our comprehensive Form in China blog gives you all the answers.
China Open: Previous winners
The China Open dates back, in various formats, to 1985 when Steve Davis best Dennis Taylor 2-1 to win what was then called the China Masters.
The event became a ranking event in the 1998/99 season which saw John Higgins beat Billy Snaddon to become the first winner of the tournament in its new guise.
There were a further eighteen renewals of the event before its cancellation in 2020. The former winners and runners-up are detailed below:
| Season | Winner | Runner-up | Frame Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018/19 | Neil Robertson | Jack Lisowski | 11-4 |
| 2017/18 | Mark Selby | Barry Hawkins | 11-3 |
| 2016/17 | Mark Selby | Mark Williams | 10-8 |
| 2015/16 | Judd Trump | RIcky Walden | 10-4 |
| 2014/15 | Mark Selby | Gary Wilson | 10-2 |
| 2013/14 | Ding Junhui | Neil Robertson | 10-5 |
| 2012/13 | Neil Robertson | Mark Selby | 10-6 |
| 2011/12 | Peter Ebdon | Stephen Maguire | 10-9 |
| 2010/11 | Judd Trump | Mark Selby | 10-8 |
| 2009/10 | Mark WIlliams | Ding Junhui | 10-6 |
| 2008/09 | Peter Ebdon | John Higgins | 10-8 |
| 2007/08 | Stephen Maguire | Shaun Murphy | 10-9 |
| 2006/07 | Graeme Dott | Jamie Cope | 9-5 |
| 2005/06 | Mark Williams | John Higgins | 9-8 |
| 2004/05 | Ding Junhui | Stephen Hendry | 9-5 |
| 2001/02 | Mark Williams | Anthony Hamilton | 9-8 |
| 2000/01 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Mark WIlliams | 9-3 |
| 1999/00 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Stephen Lee | 9-2 |
| 1998/99 | John Higgins | Billy Snaddon | 9-3 |
China Open 2026: Draw and Results
All matches in the China Open up to and including the semi-finals will be played over eleven frames. The final will be played over nineteen frames.
Round One (seedings in brackets):
- Neil Robertson (1) v Chang Bingyu (48)
- Si Jiahui (16) v Jiang Jun (65)
- Mark Selby (9) v Pang Junxu (25)
- Kyren WIlson (8) v Aaron Hill (41)
- John Higgins (5) v Stuart Bingham (21)
- Mark Allen (12) v Hossein Vafaei (28) or wildcard player
- Chris Wakelin (13) v Tom Ford (36)
- Zhao Xintong (4) v Zhang Anda (20)
- Judd Trump (3) v Noppon Saengkham (46)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (14) v Jackson Page (35)
- Xiao Guodong (11) v Anthony McGill (38) or wildcard player
- Shaun Murphy (6) v Matthew Selt (43)
- Mark WIlliams (7) v Zhou Yuelong (23)
- Barry Hawkins (10) v Liu Hongyu (58)
- Ding Junhui (15) v David Gilbert (31)
- Wu Yize (2) v Yao Pengcheng (79)
Wildcard Round:
- Hossein Vafaei (28) v wildcard player
- Anthony McGill (38) v wildcard player
All the current tips on OLBG for the China Open and other snooker events can be found on the snooker best tips page.
Recent Tournament Winners
Below is a table of all the major tournament winners and runners-up for the last twelve months.
We saw fourteen different winners of the twenty main tournaments on the WST:
| Tournament | Winner (seeding in brackets, if available) | Runner-up (seeding in brackets, if available) |
|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Masters | Judd Trump (3) | Kyren Wilson (1) |
| World Championship | Wu Yize (10) | Shaun Murphy (8) |
| Tour Championship | Zhao Xintong (2) | Judd Trump (5) |
| World Open | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (41) | Ronnie O'Sullivan (11) |
| Welsh Open | Barry Hawkins (12) | Jack Lisowski (19) |
| Players Championship | Zhao Xintong (6) | John Higgins (16) |
| World Grand Prix | Zhao Xintong (18) | Zhang Anda (29) |
| German Masters | Judd Trump (3) | Shaun Murphy (8) |
| Masters | Kyren Wilson (4) | John Higgins (7) |
| Scottish Open | Chris Wakelin (13) | Chang Bingyu (68) |
| UK Championship | Mark Selby (11) | Judd Trump (1) |
| Snooker Championship Riyadh | Zhao Xintong (2) | Neil Robertson (5) |
| Champion of Champions | Mark Selby (8) | Judd Trump (2) |
| International Championship | Wu Yize (19) | John Higgins (8) |
| Northern Ireland Open | Jack Lisowski (25) | Judd Trump (3) |
| Xian Grand Prix | Mark Williams (6) | Shaun Murphy (15) |
| British Open | Shaun Murphy (13) | Anthony McGill (58) |
| English Open | Mark Allen (9) | Zhou Yuelong (30) |
| Wuhan Open | Xiao Guodong (1) | Gary Wilson (18) |
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Neil Robertson (9) | Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) |
The table above does not include minor events such as the Championship League and the Shootout.
There were four multiple event winners in 25/26 season. Detailed as follows:
- Xhao Zintong (4 events)
- Wu Yize (2 events)
- Kyren Wilson (2 events)
- Mark Selby (2 events)
The seedings are a useful guide when considering a bet on any of the major snooker events. In the table above you can see that eighteen of the twenty tournaments were won by players ranked in the top twenty.
Perhaps the only real big shock of the season was the win of the forty-first ranked Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the World Open, who was winning only his second ranking event in a career that stretches back to 2009. Un-Nooh's only other ranking event victory came in the 2019 Shootout so it could be argued the World Open was his first meaningful tournament win.
Some other lowly ranked players made it to finals, such as Anthony McGill (58) British Open and Chang Bingyu (68) Scottish Open. The last named looks a player to follow and could go one place better in an event this season.
If you have your eye on an outsider winning a big event this year one of the Home Nations tournaments are probably the most likely to provide a shock.
Contributor Information
We are fortunate to have a snooker obsessed staff member at OLBG in Tipster Competition manager Darren Brett. We are proud to provide this Shanghai Masters Snooker Tips and Betting Guide article and all major snooker events throughout the year.
Snooker Tips and Content Manager
