2026 English Open Qualifiers: Draw, Schedule and Preview as Leicester Stint Concludes
Three-Leg Leicester Swing Reaches Its Conclusion
The Mattioli Arena in Leicester hosts the final batch of preliminary qualifying action this weekend as the 2026 English Open qualifiers take place on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 July. The two-day event brings down the curtain on an intensive three-tournament qualifying block at the venue, which has also staged the Shenzhen Open and British Open qualifiers across the opening weeks of the 2026/27 campaign. Every competitive frame of the new season so far has been contested behind closed doors in Leicester — a run that ends next week when the invitational Shanghai Masters shifts the roadshow to a fresh location.
The English Open itself enters its 11th edition on the World Snooker Tour calendar and remains one of the most prestigious of the four Home Nations Series events. Players compete for the Steve Davis Trophy, with the victor taking home £100,000 from a total prize fund of £550,400. Reigning champion Mark Allen has been seeded directly through to the venue stages alongside the rest of the world's top 32, meaning his title defence begins proper when the main event gets under way at the Brentwood Leisure Centre from 7–13 September.
Format, Seedings and Prize Money
The qualifying structure follows the established format for full-ranking events on the World Snooker Tour. The bottom 64 players on the entry list contest a first round to reduce the field, with the winners then facing those seeded between 33rd and 64th in the world rankings in a second qualifying round. The 32 players who emerge from that process join the top 32 seeds in a last-64 draw at the venue stage. All qualifying matches are played as best-of-seven frames.
The full prize breakdown for the 2026 English Open, as listed by the tour, is as follows:
| Round | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | £100,000 |
| Runner-up | £45,000 |
| Semi-finals | £21,000 |
| Quarter-finals | £13,200 |
| Last 16 | £9,000 |
| Last 32 | £5,400 |
| Last 64 | £3,600 |
| Last 96 | £1,000 |
| Highest break | £5,000 |
| Total | £550,400 |
Notable Names in the Qualifying Draw
Despite the top half of the rankings being exempt from qualifying duties, this weekend's draw still contains a number of prominent professionals whose world rankings have slipped below the automatic seeding cut-off. Former World Champion Luca Brecel — whose ranking has drifted since his 2023 Crucible triumph — must come through the qualifier rounds, as must experienced Tour stalwarts Ryan Day, Tom Ford, and Ricky Walden. Stan Moody, Noppon Saengkham, and Chang Bingyu also feature among the players aiming to secure venue-stage berths.
Further down the entry list, former World Championship finalist Jimmy White continues his Tour career in the opening round, joined by two-time ranking event winner Marco Fu and Bai Yulu. White, now in the latter stages of a remarkable professional career spanning more than four decades, has long been a draw for snooker fans and his presence at the Mattioli Arena this weekend is a reminder of the sport's enduring connection with its heritage names. The opening round on Saturday begins at 10:00 BST, with Florian Nuessle taking on Liu Yang as the first match of the weekend, followed by Sam Craigie against Sean O'Sullivan at 13:00 BST.
Road to Brentwood
For the players seeded between 33 and 64, this weekend represents a significant opportunity. A run to the venue stages guarantees at minimum £3,600 at the last 64, but the real value lies in the ranking points attached to a deep run at a full-ranking event. With the World Snooker Championship seedings and tour card security both determined by the rolling two-year rankings, every point accumulated across events like the English Open carries tangible consequence for a player's season trajectory.
The Brentwood Leisure Centre in Essex hosts the venue stages for the second time in recent years, providing a compact but competitive arena for the latter rounds. With Allen returning as champion and a strong contingent of top-32 seeds awaiting the qualifiers, the draw at the main event will carry its customary blend of established names and emerging talent. Results from this weekend's qualifying action at the Mattioli Arena will be updated as they come in. Full draw and schedule details are available via snooker.org and CueTracker.
