English Amateur Snooker Championship 2026 | Last 16 Draw

The draw for the last 16 of the 2026 Landywood English Amateur Championship has been made at Alexandra Palace during last week’s Johnstone’s Paint Masters.

The final stages of the 105th edition of snooker’s oldest competition will take place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall on the weekend of 18-19 April 2025 after 151 qualifiers were reduced to the final 16 at regional qualifiers staged in September.

The Draw

We are guaranteed a first-time winner in April at the Landywood Snooker Club after reigning champion Zachary Richardson fell to Nathan Jones in the final stage of qualifying.

Jones will face Vladislav Gradinari, who has continued his 100% record of reaching this stage of the English Amateur Championship by qualifying for a third consecutive year. The reigning English Under-18 champion will embark on the Staffordshire venue on the back of a strong campaign that has seen him top the English Junior Tour rankings for the first time.

Gradinari has been the youngest player in the last 16 line-up for the previous two year but, this time, that feat goes to 15-year-old Shaun Liu who has been drawn to face Joshua Thomond.

Six former World Snooker Tour (WST) professionals remain in contention for the prestigious title and two of them will go head-to-head as Ashley Carty, who topped this season’s English Amateur Tour ranking list, takes on former ranking event semi-finalist Peter Lines – who has already lifted a Q Tour Europe title this season.

Another standout tie sees Sean O’Sullivan, who first turned professional in 2012, face European Under-21 Championship runner-up and two-time English Junior Tour champion Oliver Sykes.

Luke Pinches, who has drawn former professional Jeff Cundy, is aiming to make history by following in the footsteps of his father Barry who lifted the English Amateur Championship title back in 1988.

The other ex-professionals in the draw are Sean Maddocks, who will face the experienced Stuart Watson, and Luke Simmonds – who takes on Ryan Davies as the 23-year-old looks to complete a unique national grand slam by adding the English Amateur crown to English Under-21, Under-18, Under-16 and Under-14 titles he has already won.

The draw is completed by last year’s runner-up Antony Parsons, who will be attempting to go one better this time around and begins his weekend against 21-year-old Ronnie Sullivan.

The 2026 Landywood English Amateur Championship takes place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall on 18-19 April. 

Learn more about the Landywood English Amateur Championship.