Snooker

World Snooker Championship 2026: Can Anyone Stop Zhao Xintong?

7 hours ago

| BY Sam Cox

William Hill News analyse the betting market for the 2026 World Snooker Championship, with all eyes on The Crucible for the biggest tournament of the snooker season.

The 2026 World Snooker Championship begins on April 18. Zhao Xintong is the snooker betting favourite to win the event after recent successes in the World Grand Prix, Players Championship, and Tour Championship.

World Snooker Championship Outright Best Bets:

Zhao Xintong – 2/1
Judd Trump – 5/1
Chris Wakelin – 50/1

Zhao became China’s first-ever world champion last year. The now 29-year-old was always the youngest world champion since 2005 and the fourth qualifier to be crowned world champion.

Zhao In-Form

Leading all players in century breaks this season and third in the 2025-26 world rankings, Zhao has been phenomenal over the last few months. He hammered Mark Selby and John Higgins in the Tour Championship, following a surprise defeat in the World Open.

The defending champion has been in ominous form since the end of January. He’s won 70% of his matches this year and was rightly named the World Snooker Player of the Month for February.

A second-round duel with Ding Junhui will be followed by Shaun Murphy or Xiao Guodong in the quarters. Higgins could be Zhao’s semi-final opponent – the veteran Scot has suffered two recent defeats to the reigning world champion.

World Number One’s Chances

Judd Trump has won one event in 2025-26. He was the runner-up to Zhao in Manchester last time out, though, and beat Mark Allen, Murphy, and Neil Robertson en route to the final.

Trump, the world number one, was a semi-finalist at the World Open and Players Championship. He won the German Masters. The International Championship in November was the last time Trump failed to reach the last four of an event.

In theory, Trump should have a favourable draw. The third round likely involves a duel with Selby, who he lost to in the UK Championship final. There’s a chance he faces one of the out-of-form duo of Kyren Wilson or Mark Williams in the semis.

The Rocket Searches For Number Eight

The betting markets are always going to be high on Ronnie O’Sullivan. After all, the Rocket inevitably attracts plenty of money from punters, even though he’s not won a ranking event since 2024.

O’Sullivan made the final of the World Open in what was his best performance since August 2025.

Is this a sign the charismatic Brit is rounding into form at the right time? Well, O’Sullivan’s record prior to his World Open final appearance hardly inspired confidence. He disappointed at the German Masters, UK Championship, and World Grand Prix.

It’s never a good idea to write off O’Sullivan, but it’s worth noting he will likely need to beat Higgins and Robertson to even reach the semis.

Selby’s Strong Season

No one has won more titles this season than Selby’s three. Selby won the Champion of Champions, the UK Championship, and Championship League Invitational.

Experience matters at the Crucible. Selby is a four-time champion.

Then again, his recent form is underwhelming, with no semi-final appearances in his last seven events.

Snooker World Championship Prediction

It’s clear Zhao is the man to beat. He’s been unstoppable over the last couple of months. If he plays at anywhere near that level in Sheffield, it’s hard to see anyone else winning the trophy

He could become the first player to win back-to-back world titles since Selby in 2016 and 2017.

Fancy a bet on The Crucible? Bet on the World Snooker Championship at William Hill

The consistency of Trump shouldn’t be downplayed. He’s a deserving world number one. It’s almost guaranteed he will be in the mix this time around, though he’s only made two semi-final appearances at the Crucible since he won the title in 2019.

As far as dark horses go, Chris Wakelin is decent value as a longshot. He won the Scottish Open earlier this season, and has made the quarters in three of his last four events.