China Open Returns to the Calendar With a £250,000 Prize and a Point to Prove
Taiyuan Hosts Snooker's Most Anticipated Comeback of the Season
Seven years is a long time in any sport. Long enough for careers to peak and fade, for new stars to emerge from nowhere, and for the memory of a tournament to shift from something vivid into something people half-remember and quietly miss. The China Open was last played in 2019, when Neil Robertson dismantled Jack Lisowski in the final with the kind of composed, clinical brilliance that defines the Australian at his best. Then came the disruption, the absences, the gap on the calendar. Now, finally, it's back — and it's brought serious money with it.
The 2026 China Open runs from 8 to 16 August at the Sports Centre in Taiyuan, marking the first time the event has been held in the city. With a winner's cheque of £250,000 — the richest prize on offer in the 2026/27 season so far — and a total prize fund of £1,205,000, the tournament arrives not as a gentle reintroduction but as a statement. Snooker in China isn't just returning. It's returning at full volume.
The Draw: Robertson Faces an Immediate Test
As defending champion, Robertson enters as the top seed, but the draw has shown him no particular kindness. His opening match comes against Chang Bingyu, one of the most exciting young Chinese players on the tour and precisely the kind of opponent who will feed off the atmosphere in Taiyuan. Robertson has been in this position before — the returning champion, the familiar face in an unfamiliar city — and he tends to thrive on that kind of pressure. But Chang will not be there simply to make up the numbers.
Elsewhere, Judd Trump — arriving in Taiyuan with fresh momentum after winning the Shanghai Masters just days earlier — opens against Noppon Saengkham. Trump has been in the kind of form that makes opposition players wince before a ball is even struck, and with the world number one ranking sitting comfortably on his shoulders, he looks every inch the man to beat. He's currently second in the outright betting, just behind Zhao Xintong, who heads the market at around 3/1 and will be fuelled by the enormous weight of home expectation.
There are other ties worth circling in the calendar. Ronnie O'Sullivan takes on Jackson Page in what could be a fascinating contrast of styles — the five-time world champion's languid genius up against the young Welshman's quiet determination. John Higgins meets fellow former world champion Stuart Bingham in a first-round clash that deserves a bigger stage than the early rounds typically provide. And Wu Yize, the reigning world champion, faces compatriot Yao Pengcheng in a local derby that Taiyuan's crowd will absolutely relish.
A Roll of Honour That Speaks for Itself
For all its years away from the schedule, the China Open has never lacked for prestige. Its list of past champions reads like a who's who of the modern era: Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui, and Mark Selby, who won the event three times in four years between 2015 and 2018 in a run of dominance that felt almost territorial. Selby is back in the field this time, as are Williams, Shaun Murphy, and Kyren Wilson — all of them aware that a deep run here could reshape their season entirely.
The format gives every match genuine weight. Games up to and including the semi-finals are played over the best of 11 frames, while the final stretches to the best of 19 — long enough for momentum to shift, for nerves to show, for the truly great players to separate themselves from the merely very good. It's a format that rewards patience and punishes complacency, which means the knockout stages are likely to deliver the sort of drama that reminds casual viewers exactly why this sport is so compelling.
Why This Tournament Matters Beyond the Prize Fund
It would be easy to focus purely on the money — and £250,000 for a week's work is not something any professional snooker player takes lightly. But the China Open's return carries a symbolic significance that goes beyond the cheque at the end. China remains the sport's most important emerging market, and events like this one, played in front of passionate, knowledgeable crowds in cities that are still finding their identity as snooker venues, help cement that relationship for the long term.
Taiyuan may not yet carry the same resonance as Beijing or Shanghai in the snooker calendar, but give it time. By the final's end on 16 August, it might just have a story of its own to tell.
