Some of the snooker professionals will return to work already on January 2, 2026. Indeed this season Invitational CLS will start on that day.

Here is some information shared by WST:

BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational Returns In January

The 2026 BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational Event will take place from January 2 to February 11, 2026, at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, featuring 25 of the top players from the World Snooker Tour.

Following a successful title defence in 2025, Mark Selby returns as the defending champion and will be targeting a historic repeat victory on home soil as the Championship League Invitational returns for another exciting edition.

The tournament will once again be contested across seven group stages, beginning on Friday, January 2, before culminating in the Winners’ Group, which will run from Tuesday, February 10, to Wednesday, February 11. 

Players Confirmed

Group 1 (January 2–3)
Chris Wakelin
Elliot Slessor
Tom Ford
Pang Junxu
Joe O’Connor
Hossein Vafaei
Jackson Page

Group 2 (January 4–5)
Gary Wilson
Ali Carter
David Gilbert

Group 3 (January 6–7)
Xiao Guodong
Si Jiahui
Yuan Sijun

Group 4 (January 8–9)
Kyren Wilson
Neil Robertson
Zhao Xintong

Group 5 (January 19–20)
Mark Selby
Wu Yize
Stuart Bingham

Group 6 (January 21–22)
Jak Jones
Jack Lisowski
Zhang Anda

Group 7 (January 23–24)
Zhou Yuelong
Lei Peifan
Jimmy Robertson

Each group will follow a round-robin format, with the top four players advancing to a play-off to determine the group winner. The winners from Groups 1–7 will battle it out in the Winners’ Group, scheduled for February 10–11, to compete for the prestigious Championship League Snooker title.

Broadcast Information

Table 1 coverage will be available via the international broadcast partners listed below. Table 2 matches will be streamed live on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel and WNT TV.Fans in the UK and Ireland, or in any country without a listed broadcaster, can watch Table 1 action live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel and WNT TV.

Broadcast Partners
•    Eurasian Broadcasting – Ukraine & CIS territories
•    Fox Sports – Australia
•    Nova – Czechia & Slovakia
•    Rigour – China
•    PCCW – Hong Kong
•    Viaplay – Iceland & Netherlands
•    Reddentes – Thailand
•    Sky NZ – New Zealand (February 10–11)
•    TV3 – Baltics
•    Viasat – Scandinavia

Event Schedule
•    Group 1: January 2–3
•    Group 2: January 4–5
•    Group 3: January 6–7
•    Group 4: January 8–9
•    Group 5: January 19–20
•    Group 6: January 21–22
•    Group 7: January 23–24
•    Winners’ Group: February 10–11

Prize Fund

Groups 1–7
•    Winner: £3,000
•    Runner-Up: £2,000
•    Losing Semi-Finalist: £1,000
•    Per Frame Won in Play-Offs: £300
•    Per Frame Won in League Play: £100
•    Highest Break Prize: £500

Winners’ Group
•    Winner: £10,000
•    Runner-Up: £5,000
•    Semi-Finalists: £3,000 each
•    Per Frame Won in League Play: £200
•    Per Frame Won in Play-Offs: £300
•    Highest Break Prize: £1,000

Full details on the 2026 BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational Event are available at championshipleaguesnooker.co.uk 

No Ronnie in the draw … unsurprising and just as well considering what happened last season. Nobody wants a repeat of that for sure.

Many fans despise this event, branding it a “glorified paid practice” for the happy few. There is some truth in that, and it isn’t by chance that Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson and Zhao Xintong enter the event in the Group that is played just before the 2026 Masters.

On the other hand it’s an event where, precisely because it isn’t ranking, many players go for their shots more and show a more attacking version of themselves.

Also, I have been told by a very reliable source that this event is very lucrative for Matchroom. If true, there is obviously no chance that it will disappear from the calendar!…

We are at this time of the year when the days start to grow again after the winter solstice. The return of the light carries the promise of spring even if we will have to wait some more weeks before the first tender leaves appear on the trees, the first flowers bloom in the fields, and the first swallows build their nests under our eaves … Mankind has celebrated this time of the year since the most ancient times. Light is essential to our life, to most form of lives, animal or vegetal, and it is important to support our mental wellbeing as well.

This year the Hanukkah celebrations have been marred by the Bondi Beach massacre. What should have been a time of coming together, and sharing hope and happiness, has turned into a time of terror and mourning. My heart goes out to the victims, their family and their friends.

I hope that for all of you who celebrate it, Christmas will be peaceful, full of joy and hope.

But we should remember that for many elderly people and persons who are socially isolated, this is often a very difficult period. If we have the opportunity to do something to make it better for them, even something very small, even if it is just for one of them … we should definitely do it.

If you celebrate it tonight …

Merry Christmas! 💕

This was shared by WST shortly before the 2025 Scottish Open final:

Leo Scullion To Retire From Refereeing

Leo Scullion, one of snooker’s most experienced officials, will hang up the gloves at the conclusion of this evening’s BetVictor Scottish Open final. 

The Glaswegian is a former policeman, who first qualified as a snooker referee in 1984. He made his professional debut in 1999 and his first televised game was Stephen Lee’s 5-0 win over Patrick Wallace at the 2001 Scottish Masters. 

Scullion’s first major Triple Crown final came in 2012 when Mark Selby defeated Shaun Murphy to win the UK Championship. Just two years later Scullion was forced to take a break from the circuit when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. 

That was a battle which he won and two years later he returned to take charge of his home final in Glasgow, as Marco Fu defeated John Higgins to win the 2016 Scottish Open. Today will be Scullion’s fourth Scottish Open final, having been in the middle for the title matches in 2017 and 2020. 

The crowning moment of 67-year-old Scullion’s career came in 2019 when he refereed snooker’s biggest match, the World Championship final. Scullion had the best seat in the house as Judd Trump produced one of the all-time great world final performances, demolishing Higgins 18-9. 

After a distinguished career in the middle, Scullion will remain a part of the tour as an assesor. However, he felt now was the right time to step away from the match arena. 

Scullion said: “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, I just wasn’t sure when would be the right time. I decided with this being a home event in Scotland, this was the moment. 26 years is a long time and I’m starting to feel that maintaining the high standards I like to set is taking more and more concentration. I’m not getting any younger. 

“I didn’t think about coming back to snooker in 2014, lets be honest. It was a terrible situation. I got back and I managed to do the first Scottish Open final in 2016 and then the world final in 2019. I’m quite pleased I managed to do that. 

“We as the referees always get a great reception at the Crucible, but at the final you need to be there to feel the atmosphere. It is electric. I will miss that kind of thing, but at the end of the day I think this is the right time to finish.“

Thank you for everything Leo!

It was a privilege to meet you in person and to get to know you a bit. Enjoy your retirement, you deserve it.

And … maybe … only maybe, only if you miss your white gloves, I would love to see you at the Crucible again, refereeing the Seniors. 💖💕

Yesterday was the last day of professional snooker in the year 2025 and it saw the triumph of Chris Wakelin at the 2025 Scottish Open. He beat Chang Bingyu by 9-2.

Congratulations Chris Wakelin

The first “mini session” ended on a 2-2 score. After that it was one way traffic.

It was Chang’s first final and he probably struggled with the pressure generated by the circumstances. It isn’t the first time a player struggles badly when playing in their first final. Before yesterday Chang’s best result was a QF at the 2019 Haining Open, an APTC.

One sided defeats happened before and happened even to vastly experienced players. Only this season, we had Neil Robertson’s 10-0 whitewash of Stuart Bingham at the 2025 World Grand Prix and Mark Williams’ 10-3 win over Shaun Murphy at the 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix.

Hopefully Chang will learn from the experience and will not beat himself up. Despite this heavy defeat he should be proud of what he achieved this week.

As for Chris Wakelin, he’s always been a very capable player but, like so many in this sport, he went through difficult periods, struggling with mental health issues. I’m very happy for him and his family.

Here is the report shared by WST:

Wakelin Crowned In Edinburgh

Chris Wakelin stormed to an emotional tournament win at the BetVictor Scottish Open, taking eight frames in a row to crush talented Chinese 23-year-old Chang Bingyu 9-2.

Victory sees Wakelin capture ranking title glory for the second time in his career, having triumphed in the 2023 Shoot Out. He powered over the line in equally dominant fashion on that occasion with a stunning 119 break in the final of the single frame event.

However, today’s win is by far and away the biggest moment of Wakelin’s 12-year professional career. At the third time of asking he has prevailed in a full format final.

Wakelin was thrashed 9-3 by Judd Trump in the 2023 Northern Ireland Open final and beaten 10-7 by Ding Junhui in the 2024 International Championship title match. Those experiences stood him in good stead against Chang, who was competing in his maiden final.

The win is testament to world number 17 Wakelin’s steely resilience after a frustrating couple of months. The Englishman missed out on qualification to the recent Victorian Plumbing UK Championship and the upcoming Johnstone’s Paint Masters by just one place in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.

Today’s £100,000 top prize will move Wakelin up to 14^th in the rankings, while Chang moves from 70^th in the world to 62^nd.

Heavy defeat ends a stunning week for Chang in disappointing fashion. However, he defeated a star studded cast to reach the final. Chang’s impressive hitlist this week includes: Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Mark Allen.

Chang led 2-1 during the afternoon session, before the match was completely turned on its head. Wakelin embarked on a five frame blitz to end 6-2 ahead and he carried that momentum into this evening.

Breaks of 50, 67 and 104 saw him blitz past the finishing post and get his hands on the Stephen Hendry Trophy. It was an emotional family triumph, with fiancée Lucy and daughter Mia, who celebrated her first birthday yesterday, in attendance.

“It was an incredible game. I felt like I got on top of him early in the match. That first session was a bit of a killer. I came out tonight and I was determined to get the job done quickly and as pain free as possible. I’m absolutely delighted with how I played today,” said Wakelin.

“I believed in myself ahead of the match. Just believing in myself over the last couple of years has been the catalyst. Going to bed last night I was nervous and I didn’t sleep very well. It was such a big match and so much on the line. I had Ronnie O’Sullivan say a few months ago I would win a big tournament. For other people to say it is lovely, but you have to back it up.

“I couldn’t have wished for a better time to do it with my daughter turning one yesterday. My coach Linda’s family live 20 minutes from here and my partner Lucy has been an absolute godsend. To be standing here with the trophy is for all of those guys.

“For the first two months when I turned professional I thought this day would happen, then I found out everyone is amazing and I wasn’t very good back then. Back in those days I had my old coach, God rest his soul Gary Morris, he always told me I was good enough. A few months before he passed away I managed to win the Shoot Out and bring that trophy to him. I’d like to think he’s looking down on me.”

Chang said: “I didn’t think I could make it this far or be in this final. I’m happy because I’ve made huge progress. I must thank my parents. They have put in a lot of effort to make me a professional. Tonight wasn’t my night and Chris played very well. I couldn’t leave him any chances.”

This was published today by World snooker

2026 Machineseeker German Masters Draw

Kyren Wilson will defend the Machineseeker German Masters title in the New Year in a strong field at the iconic Tempodrom venue in Berlin. 

The draw for the world ranking event has been made and the final stages will run from January 26th to February 1st in the heart of the German capital.…

The qualifying rounds run from January 5th to 8th in Sheffield. Players starting in round one could need to win three matches to make it to the Tempodrom. However, third round matches involving the top 16 seeds have been held over to the final stages. Those 16 players are Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins, Mark Allen, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Wu Yize, Chris Wakelin, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, John Higgins, Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Gary Wilson and Zhao Xintong. 

CLICK HERE for the qualifiers match schedule

CLICK HERE for the draw 

The match schedule for the Tempodrom will be announced after the qualifying rounds. Wilson lifted the Brandon Parker Trophy for the second time last season, beating Barry Hawkins 10-9 in a dramatic final. This time his opening match will be against Dylan Emery, Florian Nuessle or Robert Milkins. 

So… Ronnie has entered the event and is in the draw. Will he actually play? I’m far from certain that we will see him in Berlin TBH. Last season he withdrew. It wasn’t the first time either that he withdrew and the last time he actually played in qualifiers he lost by 5-0 in round one. He hasn’t won a match in the event since 2017. This time though he will start in round 3, at the venue. That may well make a difference. We shall see.

He won this event once, of course. That was in 2012. That time, he actually needed to win it to avoid having to qualify for the Crucible. He duly did and he then went on to win the World Championship itself as well. Anything can happen or not happen when it’s about Ronnie.

…

Alfie Burden, the reigning Seniors Snooker champion had never won a ranking event on the main tour before yesterday. He wasn’t even supposed to be at the 2025 Shoot-out, he was invited at the last minute, as an amateur. The least that can be said is that he made the most of the opportunity. He just went and won the event!

Next year Alfie will be invited to the “Champion of Champions” no matter what happens at the 2026 World Seniors …

Congratulations Alfie!

Here is the report shared by WST:

Jubilant Burden Wins First Ranking Title At Shoot Out

Alfie Burden didn’t even know he had a place in the 9Club Shoot Out on the day the tournament started, but he ended up with the trophy, beating Stuart Bingham in the final to land his first ranking title, 30 years after first turning pro.

Burden was relegated from the pro tour at the end of last season and, having finished 20th on the Q School ‘top-up’ list did not expect to be offered a place in the unique one-frame knockout tournament. He was about to jump into a swimming pool on Wednesday morning at 9.30am when he had a call from WST’s Bristol office to tell him that Alex Clenshaw had pulled out, and there was a spot in the draw for him if he could drive from London to Blackpool in time for the afternoon session.

He was at the venue within five hours and went on to win seven matches to capture the biggest title of a career which started in 1994. Burden, who turns 49 on Sunday, also won the World Seniors title earlier this year, but tonight’s triumph is by far the biggest moment of his life in snooker.

The former world number 38 had never previously been beyond the quarter-finals of a ranking event but now becomes the only amateur to win a ranking title other than Zhao Xintong who was crowned World Champion this year. The £50,000 top prize is by far the biggest of his career and could be enough to regain his place on tour next season via the one-year ranking list. The tenth different winner in ten ranking events so far this season, he is also in line for a place in next year’s Champion of Champions.

Former World Champion Bingham, seeking his first title since lifting the Masters trophy in 2020, had first chance in the final but made just 6 before missing a mid range red. Burden opened up the pack immediately and went on to make an excellent break of 56. Bingham had one more opportunity to counter but potted just one red before missing a long blue and the handshake soon followed, before Burden jumped on to the table to celebrate.

“I can’t believe I have won it,” said Burden, who was a promising footballer for Arsenal in his junior days before switching to snooker after a serious knee injury. “On Wednesday morning I went for a swim and I only had my phone with me because I have lost my locker key at the gym. I was walking out to the swimming pool and I looked at my phone and saw I had a missed call. I rang back and found out I had a place in the Shoot Out. I got changed, dashed to the snooker club to get my cue, dashed home to get my trousers and shoes, then I was on the M1. 

“From the start I have played well. Everything fell into place for me. I am a ranking event winner now and that is something I am very proud of. After dropping off the tour last season I found myself in the wilderness. I have had no motivation to play on the Q Tour, I turned up for a few events in terrible shape having not practised. Then a couple of weeks ago I went to the one in Bulgaria with a new cue and got to the semi-finals. Now I am hoping this win will get me back on the tour. 

“I was a pro for a long time, I first joined the tour when I was 17. I still have a lot to offer snooker, I am hungry, I love the game and I have people who believe in me. I have a great family and friends, a great mentor in Patsy Fagan. It has been a difficult career, I am not going to lie. Snooker is a very tough sport mentally. There have been a lot more downs than ups, but this is a moment I will cherish. I can’t wait to see my children tomorrow, they have always supported me – this is for them.“

Earlier in the semi-finals, Bingham edged out Iulian Boiko in an exciting finish. Ukraine’s Boiko, enjoying his best run in a ranking event, trailed 44-35 with 40 seconds to go when he missed the pink to a centre pocket, needing just three pots for victory. Burden beat Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham with a break of 73.

All the detailed results are available on snooker.org.

The event itself was a “melting pot” as usual.

The loud crowd was a pain in the ears at (many) times and luck is far too much of a factor for this to deserve to be ranking.

On the other hand, it’s an opportunity to discover players that we very rarely get to see in action, notably some top amateurs.

The Tower Circus is the perfect venue for it … it’s a circus! But it’s an interesting venue from an architectural point of view and the round floor allows everyone to follow the action in the best possible way.

Jimmy and Rachel are doing a great job with the “on stage” interviews. Players feel valued. A lot of them are never really “seen” in normal events. They come, they play … they go.

All in all, there are more “positives” than “negatives” to the event. It shouldn’t be ranking given the “random” factor attached to it, but if it wasn’t ranking a lot of the players, notably the top players, wouldn’t play in it.