Taom UK Women’s Snooker Championship 2026 | Tournament Preview
The 2026/27 World Women’s Snooker Tour launches this Friday (4 September) with the start of the Taom UK Women’s Snooker Championship at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England.
The second oldest tournament on the calendar, the UK Championship has once again received a prize money boost for this year, with four former champions among an all-star field which will see all of the world’s top ten current ranked players contest the title.
All 32 players will begin in the group stages, with the top two from each group set to progress to the last 16 on Saturday evening.
The world’s top three will once again contest a live battle for the world number one ranking, with OnYee Ng having reclaimed the position for the second time in her career following the World Championship in May.
The three-time former world champion will be defending winner’s points following her success at the 2024 US Open, while Bai Yulu will also defend a significant amount following her maiden Leeds triumph two years ago. This means that either of the pair, as well as Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut, could finish the event in top spot depending on how results unfold over the three-day event.
Alongside the main tournament there will also be side-tournaments held for Under-21 and Seniors players with Narucha Phoemphul and Tessa Davidson both looking to defend their titles, as well as a Challenge Cup on Sunday for players who do not reach the quarter-finals.
Group A
Newly crowned world champion Panchaya Channoi is set to make her UK Championship debut as she travels to compete at the Northern Snooker Centre for the first time in her career this weekend.
Up to a career-high position of number seven, the 18-year-old Thai player would become only the sixth player to have lifted both world and UK titles during the same year with victory in Leeds.
Standing in her way during the group stage will be Hong Kong China’s So Man Yan, who has climbed into the world’s top 10 following a consistent run of results over the past two years. She is set to make her sixth appearance in the UK Championship, having reached the quarter-finals in 2024.
They are joined by English duo Laura Killington – fresh from her second triumph at the recent Home Internationals Billiards and Snooker Federation Championships alongside sister Zoe – and Kellie Barker, who like Channoi makes her UK Championship debut this weekend.
Group B
Record 12-time champion Reanne Evans heads up Group B as she looks to reclaim the UK crown for the first time since 2023.
Having finished last season with a strong run to her first World Championship final in seven years, the English star will begin against compatriots Rose Nicholson – who last year claimed a frame against Evans at the same stage of the event – and Chris Sharpe, who returned to the Tour earlier this year at the British Open following an absence of 13 years.
Completing the group is Kara Cox of the United States, who previously made her debut at the 2024 US Open in Seattle.
Group C
India’s Anupama Ramachandran is set to compete at the UK Championship for a fourth time, having previously reached back-to-back quarter-finals of the event from 2023-24.
Set to defend a third of her total ranking points with her totals from her 2024 US Open final and her second last eight run in Leeds due to expire this weekend, the 24-year-old will be targeting a strong performance to consolidate her position inside of the world’s top eight.
As in 2025, she will face Latvia’s Anna Prisjažņuka in the group stages in Leeds, a year after the 36-year-old made her Tour return at the event following a decade away, eventually reaching the quarter-finals.
Now up to 15th in the world and with no points to defend for the remainder of this season, Prisjažņuka will be eyeing further gains over the next 12 months.
Elsewhere in the group, Hong Kong China’s Yuk Fan Lau will make her debut in the competition as she looks to further improve her current ranking of 22nd, while Iran’s Zeinab Shahi will be hoping to repeat her run 12 months ago which saw her reach the last 16 stage of a ranking event for the first time.
Group D
Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul will make her second appearance at the UK Championship, having reached the last eight on her debut a year ago.
Up to a career-high world ranking of number five following her run to the quarter-finals of the World Championship in May, Phoemphul will come up against England’s Tessa Davidson, who she narrowly edged out at the last 16 stage in China.
Davidson, who also reached the last eight a year ago before losing out to eventual champion Bai Yulu, is a three-time former winner of the UK Championship and will make her tenth appearance in the event this weekend.
The group is completed by Hong Kong China’s Wing Man Shiu, who makes her debut in Leeds and will compete in the UK for the second time, having previously reached the last 16 stage of the British Open in 2024.
Her compatriot Yee Ting Cheung was scheduled to play in the group, but has withdrawn from the event.
Group E
A four-time winner of the event, Hong Kong China’s OnYee Ng will bid to lift the title for the first time since 2018 as she makes her tenth appearance at the UK Championship this weekend.
The world number one finds herself drawn in an otherwise all-English group, alongside Emma Brown, Sarah Dunn and 14-year-old Tallulah Cousins, who will compete in the event for the first time, having joined the Tour at February’s Belgian Open.
Group F
Two-time UK Championship Rebecca Kenna lines up for her tenth consecutive appearance at the UK Championship, looking to maintain a run which has seen her reach at least the quarter-finals stage on each occasion.
The world number six will face a rematch with 17-year-old rising star Liu Ziling, who defeated Kenna during the group stage at the World Championship four months ago and will compete outside of Asia for the first time in her career this weekend.
The pair will be joined by former Under-21 number one Zoe Killington, fresh from her success at the recent Home Internationals tournament, as well as Elizabeth Black, who makes her eighth appearance in Leeds.
Group G
Former world number one Mink Nutcharut continues her quest for a maiden UK Championship title in Leeds as she makes her sixth appearance in the prestigious event this weekend.
The nine-time ranking event winner has yet to reach the final of the event, her best performance being four semi-final runs since her debut in 2018.
Looking to reclaim the world number one ranking for the first time since January, Nutcharut begin her campaign against Scottish duo Sophie Nix and Mhairi Mackay, with England’s Connie Stephens completing the section.
Group H
Two-time defending champion Bai Yulu returns to Leeds having never failed to reach the final from her previous three appearances at the venue and is one of three players in the race to finish the event as world number one on Sunday evening.
The 23-year-old could draw level with Mink Nutcharut if she were to win her ninth career ranking title and will begin her campaign with matches against compatriot Lynn Shi, England’s Selina Dean and Deborah Fladgate of Scotland, who memorably came through a three-way playoff last year to reach the last 16 stage of a ranking event for the first time.
Under-21 / Seniors
Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul heads the Under-21 draw as the defending champion and number one ranked player, with reigning world under-21 champion Panchaya Channoi seeded in the opposite half of the draw.
Also present for the first time in a junior event outside of Asia is China’s Liu Ziling, who was a world junior finalist in 2025, while former top ranked players Zoe Killington and Sophie Nix are also in action.
In the Seniors competition, defending champion Tessa Davidson will have her sights on what would be a fourth UK crown in five years, as she looks to return to winning ways having seen an incredible three-year winning streak at over-40s events end at the World Championship back in May.
A strong field with 11 players in all, she will be joined by opponents including Sarah Dunn, Deborah Fladgate and Selina Dean, who complete the top four seeds in the draw.
All the action gets underway on Friday from 12:00pm BST, with the latest match results and standings available via WPBSA SnookerScores.
