Snooker Results: latest snooker results from Players Championship and Hong Kong upsets
snooker results from the Players Championship 2026 show the event down to four at the Telford International Centre, while separate action in Hong Kong produced a shock when Yuan sank world No. 1 Trump. The week also featured praise from Ronnie O'Sullivan for Wu, calling him "This kid is really special" and hailing a future "world champion".
Snooker Results: Players Championship update
The Players Championship field, which boasted 16 of the best players from the one-year rankings, has reached its conclusion stage at the Telford International Centre with a particularly strong final foursome. There are three former Players Championship winners still involved in addition to the reigning world champion, who is simultaneously on course to make it back-to-back ranking triumphs on the calendar.
Higgins and Trump: Rivalry renewed
John Higgins and Judd Trump renew a friendly rivalry that effectively dates back to the 2011 World Championship final in Sheffield. Higgins has said Trump should be regarded over everyone else as snooker’s main flag bearer, a comment that reflects Trump’s haul of titles over the last decade.
Trump arrives at Telford as the world number one and fresh from success at the German Masters, which ended a rare 14-month title drought. The 36 year-old has shown the consistency that keeps him at the top of the rankings. In the Players Championship Trump backed up a thrashing of Zhou Yuelong with a 6-3 quarter-final defeat of Mark Williams.
Zhao Xintong’s comeback and form
Zhao Xintong, 28 year-old, represents one of the most obvious players in form this season. He won his first title as a world champion with triumph at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship and then claimed the World Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago.
Zhao fought through a scare in Telford, trailing Elliot Slessor 5-2 in the first round before fighting back to win a deciding frame, and he followed that by firing plenty of nice breaks to beat Shaun Murphy 6-3 in the last eight. Next up for the Chinese competitor is Mark Allen.
Higgins’s route into the semi-finals
Approaching 51, Higgins is a four-time world champion who impressed en route to the final of the prestigious Masters in January. Higgins was not originally supposed to be in the Players Championship, reaching the cut-off point in 17th position but then being promoted into the lineup after Ronnie O'Sullivan's decision not to enter.
The 2021 champion has made the most of that chance, with wins over Neil Robertson and Chris Wakelin taking him through to the last four. In addition to their two Crucible finals, Higgins and Trump share a head-to-head history in which one has often dominated stretches; Higgins prevailed from a 6-5 thriller in their latest affair at the Alexandra Palace.
Yuan upset and O'Sullivan praise
Outside Telford, Yuan sinks world No. 1 Trump in Hong Kong in a noted upset. The same period saw Ronnie O'Sullivan heap praise on Wu, saying, "This kid is really special, " and calling him a future "world champion. "
Meanwhile Mark Allen arrived at the Players Championship as a 20/1 outsider despite having won the event a couple of years ago, setting up a last-four clash with the reigning world champion who is chasing consecutive ranking titles.
With semi-finals set — John Higgins versus Judd Trump and Zhao Xintong versus Mark Allen — the Players Championship moves to decisive matches at the Telford International Centre and leaves a busy week of snooker results across events for followers to track.
