site.btaSofia Hosts Major International Snooker Event

The 2026 WSF Championships, a major international event in the sport of snooker, is taking place at the Hotel Marinela in Sofia until February 1. It has been organized by the World Snooker Federation (WSF) in partnership with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and the Bulgarian Snooker Federation.

The Sofia event comprises three amateur competitions: the WSF Open Championship (January 24 –  February 1), claimed last season by Gao Yang of China, and the WSF Junior Championship / WSF Women’s Championship (January 19-23) tournaments, which saw Ireland’s Leone Crowley and Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut win respectively earlier this year.

Both the Open and Junior Championships represent official qualifying events for the professional World Snooker Tour. The Women’s Championship is an officially recognized World Women’s Snooker Tour ranking event.

In the Junior Championship, Bulgaria will be represented by 12-year-old Svetoslav Gekov, who trains at the National Snooker Academy in Sofia. Bulgaria's Ralitsa Karaminkova will play in the Women's Championship.

The official male entrants’ list is yet to be compiled as the men's competition (the Open Championship) is set to begin later than the other two competitions.

All matches will be played on Xingpai tables meeting the highest WPBSA standards for the World Snooker Tour.

WSF President Jason Ferguson said: “[The] announcement that the 2026 WSF Championships will be held in the stunning city of Sofia represents another fantastic milestone for this prestigious annual event. First held in 2018, the WSF Championships have become firmly established on the amateur snooker calendar with players welcomed from around the globe, all chasing the dream of a place on the professional World Snooker Tour.”