Entries Open for the 2026 World Women's Snooker Championship — and the Stakes Have Never Been Higher
A New Stage, a Familiar Crown
Picture the scene: Dongguan, southern China, mid-May. The lights drop over a brand-new arena, the click of a cue ball cuts through a hushed crowd, and somewhere in the draw, a player nobody quite expected is making the run of her life. That is the promise — and the magic — of the World Women's Snooker Championship, and in 2026 it returns with fresh ambition and a brand-new home.
World Women's Snooker (WWS), working alongside the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association, Cantonese Snooker (Changping) and the Dongguan Billiards and Snooker Association, has confirmed that entries are now open for the 43rd staging of the tournament, with the event running from 12–19 May 2026 at the state-of-the-art Dongguan Changping Snooker Center — a venue making its World Championship debut. An opening ceremony is scheduled for the evening of 11 May, with all competing players required to attend.
What's at Stake
This is not simply prestige on the line. The player who lifts the trophy in Dongguan will walk away with something that could reshape the next two years of her career: a World Snooker Tour card, valid from the start of the 2026/27 season. In a sport where access to the professional circuit has historically been limited for women, that prize represents a genuine, tangible doorway — one that could lead to ranking events, televised matches, and the kind of platform that transforms a promising amateur into a recognisable name.
It is a prize that defending champion Bai Yulu knows better than anyone. The home favourite made history at the 2025 edition by becoming only the sixth player ever to successfully defend the World Women's title, defeating Thailand's Mink Nutcharut 6-4 in a final that drew some of the largest crowds in the tournament's modern history. That event set a landmark of its own: 74 players competed, making it the biggest WWS event this century. The bar, in other words, has already been raised. Now organisers will be hoping the new venue raises it further still.
Open to All — That's the Point
One of the most important details buried in the entry announcement is also one of the most striking: the tournament is open to all women players, regardless of age, nationality or level of experience. You do not need a ranking. You do not need a tour card. You need an entry, a registration on WPBSA SnookerScores, and the belief that you belong on that table.
That philosophy has long underpinned WWS's approach to the global game, and it is what makes the World Championship something genuinely different from its male counterpart. While the Crucible famously narrows its field to 32 of the world's elite, the women's equivalent actively widens its doors. For a teenager picking up a cue in Bangkok or a club player in Birmingham who has spent years quietly perfecting her game, the entry deadline of 4 May 2026 at 1:00pm BST is not just an administrative detail — it is a deadline worth setting an alarm for.
Alongside the main event, the Under-21 World Championship and the Seniors World Championship will also be contested in Dongguan, offering pathways for players at both ends of the age spectrum. Last year, Thailand's Panchaya Channoi claimed the Under-21 crown, while England's Tessa Davidson took the Seniors title — a result that quietly underlined the depth and breadth of the women's game across generations.
How to Enter
All three events are entered through the WPBSA SnookerScores platform. Players will need to register or log in to an account, select the relevant WWS event, follow the on-screen instructions, and complete payment via the 'My Payments' tab. Crucially, an entry is only considered formally accepted once both the online registration and the entry fee payment have been received before the deadline. Given that the tournament requires all players to stay at the official tournament hotel, and that those travelling from outside China will need to plan for visa requirements, WWS is strongly advising competitors to read the full event entry pack well in advance.
Players should also be aware that the new WPBSA Eligibility Policy and Rules for Open and Women's Tournaments has now been adopted by WWS and applies to this event.
A Tournament Growing Into Something Bigger
Women's snooker has spent the last few years proving, quietly but persistently, that it does not need anyone's permission to matter. Record entries, packed venues in China, and tour cards with real professional weight — the 2026 World Women's Championship arrives not as a footnote to the snooker calendar, but as one of its more compelling chapters. Whoever emerges from that new arena in Dongguan on the evening of 19 May will have earned something real. The entry window is open. The rest is up to them.