World Women's Snooker Championship Returns to Changping in May 2026 with Brand-New Venue
Championship Confirmed for Dongguan Changping, 12–19 May 2026
World Women's Snooker (WWS), the Chinese Billiard Sports Association (CBSA) and Cantonese Snooker (Changping) have jointly confirmed that the 2026 World Women's Snooker Championship will take place at the Dongguan Changping Snooker Center from 12–19 May 2026, with an opening ceremony scheduled for the preceding Monday, 11 May. The announcement marks the third consecutive year that Changping has hosted the sport's most prestigious women's title, following successful stagings in both 2024 and 2025.
Notably, the 2026 edition will be the first to take place at the newly constructed Dongguan Changping Snooker Center — a purpose-built facility conceptualised and developed specifically to host the World Women's Snooker Championship and future elite-level events in the region. WWS President Mandy Fisher confirmed she visited the venue during the early stages of its construction and expressed considerable anticipation ahead of seeing competitive play there for the first time.
Bai Yulu: Back-to-Back Champion and World Number One
The defending champion heading into 2026 is China's Bai Yulu, who claimed the title for a second successive year at the 2025 edition — an event that attracted a field of 74 players, the largest in the championship's history. At 22 years of age, Bai has established herself as the dominant force in women's snooker, having accumulated eight ranking event titles across the past three seasons. Her recent performances propelled her to world number one for the first time earlier in 2026, a landmark that underlines the scale of her achievements at such a young age. No player in the modern era of women's snooker has won back-to-back world titles with quite the statistical weight of ranking victories that Bai now carries into the defence of her crown.
A Expanding Programme: Under-21 and Seniors Events Included
As in previous years, the senior championship will be complemented by two additional world-title competitions. The World Women's Under-21 Snooker Championship and the World Women's Seniors Championship will both feature on the programme at Changping. At the 2025 event, Thailand's Panchaya Channoi claimed the Under-21 crown, while England's Tessa Davidson took the Seniors title — results that reflected the increasingly international spread of talent across all age groups in women's snooker.
Governing Body Support and Growing Infrastructure
The event continues to operate under the backing of the WPBSA, snooker's world governing body, in partnership with the CBSA, promoter Cantonese Snooker, and the Changping government. WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson described the championship as a key tournament within the WPBSA Group's calendar, with the Dongguan Changping Snooker Center representing a tangible long-term investment in the infrastructure of women's snooker in China.
Fisher was unequivocal in crediting Cantonese Snooker's involvement as transformative for the women's game. In a statement released alongside the announcement, she described the partnership as a "true gamechanger" that has elevated women's snooker to a new level over the past two years. The growth in field size alone supports that assessment — the 74-player draw in 2025 represented a significant expansion on prior editions and Fisher has indicated she hopes even more players will register for the 2026 championship.
What to Expect in 2026
Further logistical details — including hotel arrangements and entry procedures — are expected to be published by WWS in due course. With a new, purpose-built venue, a record-challenging field anticipated, and the world number one arriving as a two-time defending champion, the conditions are in place for the 2026 World Women's Snooker Championship to surpass its predecessors in both scale and profile. Entry and travel information will be available via WWS and snooker.org when confirmed.
