Alfie Burden Set to Defend 2026 World Snooker Championship Title at Crucible
Alfie Burden will defend his crown at the world snooker championship when the 2026 JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship runs at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from 6-10 May. The action begins at 7pm on Wednesday 6 May, with the event billed as the biggest ever line-up for a World Seniors Snooker tournament.
Burden arrives as the reigning champion, and the field around him is loaded with four of the game’s most recognisable names: Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White, Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter. That gives the flagship tournament a sharper edge than a routine title defence, with the draw built around established players rather than a single returning champion.
Crucible Theatre Sheffield
The venue is familiar, but the scale is not. The Crucible will host the championship across five days, and the 2026 edition is being framed by its size as much as by Burden’s defence. For a seniors event, a record line-up changes the shape of the week before a ball is struck, because the depth of the field leaves little room for easy passage through the rounds.
The championship also keeps its place as the seniors circuit’s flagship tournament. With the line-up stretching to its largest ever size, the event carries more than one main attraction: Burden’s title defence, O’Sullivan’s presence, and the chance for White, Bingham and Carter to push deep into the competition all sit in the same frame at Sheffield.
5 and Pluto TV
Viewers in the UK will see the championship on 5 for the third time, while Pluto TV has joined in a new simulcast partnership for the event. Pluto TV will carry the championship in the UK and internationally across the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Australia.
Rigour Media will broadcast every match in China, widening the event’s reach beyond the Crucible itself. That puts the 2026 championship on television and streaming in a long list of territories, with the first session starting at 7pm on Wednesday 6 May and the title defence waiting from the opening night onward.
