The 2025/26 snooker season gets underway on Sunday in the low-key surroundings of Wuhan Open qualifying in Leicester, the first page of many fascinating stories to follow.
It was only last month that Zhao Xintong became world champion and there has barely been a break from snooker since, with the Women’s World Championship, Q School, Senior’s World Championship and more being played since the Cyclone’s triumph.
Zhao’s return from a ban, obliteration of the amateur circuit and then surge to the world title, becoming the first Chinese world champion, was one of the stories of the season.
The highs and lows of Ronnie O’Sullivan will provide a tale in most snooker campaigns and the last one was no different, with the new season set to be the same.
From the tournament-winners to those slipping down the rankings and plenty more scrapping to retain professional status, there is going to be no shortage of intrigue over the next year.
There will be plenty of unexpected winners, losers and situations cropping up over the season, but from the off, there are some interesting storylines to follow.
Here are 10 narratives that will ebb and flow over the campaign and will be well worth keeping an eye on.
Will the world champ sparkle or struggle?
For the third year on the spin we are starting the season with a brand new world champion, this time in Zhao Xintong after his maiden Crucible triumph in May.
In 2023 Luca Brecel became world champ for the first time and then went missing, with just the odd flash of brilliance amid a largely forgettable year on the table.
Kyren Wilson was quite the opposite, soaring to new levels of success after becoming world champion in 2024. How will Zhao compare to the two men to lift the trophy in Sheffield before him?
Probably pretty well. The Cyclone was barely challenged at the Crucible and his seemingly unflappable demeanour will serve him well. There is pressure, though, big pressure, so we will see how he deals with it.
Can the Rocket get back on course?
Ronnie O’Sullivan had a remarkable 2024/25 campaign, even by his standards. With a disappointing but not disastrous first half, followed by months away from the game after snapping his cue in frustration at the Championship League in January.
He returned to play below par but still reach the semis of the World Championship, despite chopping and changing his equipment along the way.
The Rocket said he intends to play a busy schedule over the next two years, ditching exhibitions and coaches, just concentrating on tournament play. It will be fascinating to see if he can get back to somewhere near his immense best.
He needs to get some wins on the board, because he starts the season with a projected Crucible ranking outside the top 16, so would face World Championship qualifying in 2026.
European breaks
More and more players from Europe seem to make their way onto tour each year, with Austria’s Florian Nuessle coming aboard this season, while Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko is back and the additions of Mateusz Baranowski and 14-year-old Michal Szubarczyk take Poland’s tally to three professionals.
They all have a long way to go to join Luca Brecel as genuine challengers for ranking titles from the continent, but exciting, young talent now appears as – if not more – likely to come from mainland Europe than the UK.
The progress of emerging talents like Bulcsu Revesz and Antoni Kowalski will be interesting to follow in their second seasons as professionals.
The next Chinese star to shine
Two seasons ago we saw Zhang Anda emerge as an elite force after toiling away in the mid-rankings for years. The last campaign witnessed Xiao Guodong do something similar.
Zhao Xintong is now world champion and we have two stunning young talents in Si Jiahui and Wu Yize lurking on the fringes of the very top of the sport.
There is no shortage of Chinese stars ready to make the move up a level or two this season, with Pang Junxu, Lei Peifan, Yuan Sijun and Xu Si all candidates. Zhou Yuelong could finally make the move that has been expected of him for some time.
Even lower down the rankings, He Guoqiang, Fan Zhengyi and Liu Hongyu could do a lot of damage, having already proved they are capable of doing so.
Surprise tour survival battles
Last season we saw tour stalwarts Joe Perry, Dominic Dale and Anthony Hamilton all head off into retirement. Dale did so willingly, while Perry and Hamilton dropped off tour and will not return.
There are some names floating around the cut-off point on the projected rankings that you may not expect to be there and could be fighting for their careers come April.
Anthony McGill (61) and Robert Milkins (70) are perhaps the most surprising, with the Milkman in an especially perilous position. Jamie Jones and Jordan Brown are two more experienced players hovering around the projected number 64 spot.
There is plenty of snooker to play before anyone loses their tour card, but it is a situation to follow.
The fortunes of the now former world champ
Kyren Wilson’s year as world champion may have ended with disappointment in a first round Crucible defeat, but he had a brilliant season after his Crucible triumph.
Four ranking titles after his Sheffield glory is sensational work and he cemented his place alongside Judd Trump as a contender for best player on the planet.
His first round loss to Lei Peifan has forced him to readjust back to life as not the reigning world champion. Will the glow fade and results tail off with it? Or is the Warrior now a bona fide elite player with many more titles to come?
A story of last season was his battle for supremacy with Trump. Is that now a three-way dance with Zhao?
Rising Brits
There have not been too many British stars emerging at the top of snooker in recent years, but there are some making moves up the rankings.
Chris Wakelin is the furthest forward on this march and starts the season at number 16 in the world after an impressive Crucible quarter-final run. A big title would be no surprise this campaign.
Joe O’Connor is at a career high of 28 in the rankings, 23-year-old Jackson Page is on the up after his double-147 heroics in April, while teenager Stan Moody had a very encouraging last season and will be looking for similar progress this time round.
While clearly not Britain, Cork’s Aaron Hill is also a player to keep an eye on after his best season to date and into the world’s top 50 for the first time.
The stray Bullet
Luca Brecel looked close to his sensational best at times at this year’s World Championship, demolishing Ding Junhui and running Judd Trump close in the quarter-finals.
However, after a very patchy time since becoming world champion, he starts this season at number 39 in the world rankings. Obviously a far better player than that, but results have not been good enough of late.
The signs are good for an improvement as he has entered everything available to him at the start of the season.
If he’s focussing on the baize and not on Ironman training, then the Bullet could be firing again very soon.
Can Ballrun bounce back?
There will be some concern at meetings of the Stuart Bingham Fan Club after the former world champ failed to qualify for the Crucible for the first time since 2010.
Having been a fixture at the Masters for a decade he has also missed the last two editions and good runs have been rare over the last three seasons.
Seen as Ballrun is still number 22 in the world it is not panic stations just yet, but he only went past the last 16 once in ranking events last season. At 49 years old, that needs to improve or a possibly terminal tumble down the rankings is incoming.
A run to the Grand Prix final last season shows that it’s still in there, but he needs to get consistency back, something not helped by a yips-esque issue he has been suffering.
The fate of the Crucible
There will always be off-table storylines as well and one that will be prominent this season is the fate of the Crucible.
The contract for the World Championship to stay at the Sheffield venue runs until 2027 and Barry Hearn has declared that he wants a decision made by the end of 2025 on the future beyond that date.
We will see if that actually happens, but surely we will know by the end of the season. Until we hear then the chance remains that there could be just two World Championships left at the Crucible.