Ronnie O’Sullivan has been given a conditional route into November’s Champion of Champions after the 2026 World Seniors Championship was added to the qualifying list for the 16-player event in Leicester.
O’Sullivan won the World Seniors title at the Crucible in May, according to SnookerHQ and Metro Snooker, and the revised criteria put that victory in line for a possible invitation. His participation is not confirmed. Both reports said he would receive a place only if either the Shenzhen Open or Northern Ireland Open is won by a player who has already secured Champion of Champions qualification.
Fourteen places are currently secured, leaving the Shenzhen Open and Northern Ireland Open as the final designated qualifying tournaments. Metro Snooker reported that the Shenzhen event runs from 28 September to 4 October, followed by the Northern Ireland Open from 18 to 25 October. The Champion of Champions is then scheduled for Leicester’s Mattioli Arena from 9 to 15 November.
The updated list gives O’Sullivan an opportunity which was not included in the original qualification schedule. It does not provide an automatic place, and neither report established that he would accept an invitation if the required results occur.
How O’Sullivan can qualify
The published criteria use a specified list of qualifying events and routes. As SnookerHQ and Metro Snooker explained, repeat victories by players already in the field can therefore open places for further names on the qualification list.
The World Seniors Championship is now among those routes, with O’Sullivan holding priority through his May success. The position after the two October events can be summarised as follows:
- If the Shenzhen Open or Northern Ireland Open is won by a player who has already qualified, O’Sullivan would receive an invitation through the World Seniors route.
- If both tournaments produce repeat winners, O’Sullivan would receive an invitation for one of the two remaining places under the revised order, subject to his acceptance.
- In that double-repeat scenario, the other place would go to the highest-ranked player not already qualified, assessed on 26 October. SnookerHQ said Neil Robertson would currently occupy that position, while Metro Snooker described him as the likely recipient.
The results in Shenzhen and Belfast are therefore central to O’Sullivan’s prospects. If both events are won by players not already qualified, those winners would take the remaining tournament places. One repeat winner would activate the World Seniors route and earn O’Sullivan an invitation, subject to his acceptance.
Any invitation and O’Sullivan’s eventual attendance would remain separate matters. SnookerHQ reported that he withdrew from the Champion of Champions in 2015 and 2023 despite being reigning champion on both occasions. Metro Snooker likewise reported that an invitation would not guarantee his appearance and said the highest-ranked unqualified player would be likely to benefit should he not play.
World Seniors added after initial schedule
Metro Snooker reported that the original qualifying schedule, announced in December, did not include the World Seniors Championship. That schedule had stated that the list could change, including through the addition of new events, according to the report.
Metro Snooker also noted calendar changes including the Saudi Arabia Masters dropping from the schedule, the return of the China Open and the Xi’an Grand Prix becoming the Shenzhen Open. The same report said the World Seniors champion had featured in the Champion of Champions qualification structure in every year since 2019, although the route did not initially appear on the 2026 schedule.
Under the revised list, O’Sullivan’s World Seniors title could become relevant if either remaining event has a repeat winner. The published criteria also include a highest-ranked-player provision after the qualifying events, meaning the order of the remaining routes matters if the field is not completed by distinct tournament winners.
Leicester field taking shape
Mark Selby will return as defending champion after beating Judd Trump 10-5 in the 2025 final, according to both reports. SnookerHQ listed Trump, world champion Wu Yize, world number one Zhao Xintong and Masters champion Kyren Wilson among the players set to feature.
SnookerHQ also reported that Ali Carter secured his place by winning the English Open, while Shaun Murphy is included as the 2026 World Championship runner-up. Chang Bingyu, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Jak Jones, Alfie Burden, Barry Hawkins, Chris Wakelin and Panchaya Channoi were also listed among the qualifying names or likely participants in its report.
O’Sullivan, 50, has won the Champion of Champions four times, in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2022, SnookerHQ reported. That record gives added context to the revised route, but his place remains dependent on the outcomes of the final two designated qualifying events. The winner’s cheque at the Mattioli Arena is £150,000, according to SnookerHQ and Metro Snooker.