Miah Wins 2026 WSF Championship in Sofia
Hammad Miah defeated Wang Xinbo 5-4 to win the 2026 World Snooker Federation (WSF) Championship and earn a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) card.
The 32-year-old won through a field of 191 cueists from 36 countries to win the WSF Championship title on his debut in the prestigious competition.
Miah, who was relegated from the Tour at the end of the 2024/25 season, will return to the professional ranks from the start of the 2026/27 campaign after winning 10 straight matches at the Hotel Marinela in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The eventual champion had dropped just nine frames in nine matches en route to the title match and whitewashed fellow former professional Stuart Carrington in the semi-finals with breaks of 70, 60 and 54 to reach the title match.
His toughest test of the competition had come against 17-year-old Chinese cueist Yuhang Wang, who had missed a match-winning pink at 3-2 ahead before losing out to Miah in a decider.
The final saw the Englishman facing another teenager from China after Wang Xinbo, who had earlier lost in the final of the WSF Junior Championship to Michael Larkov, came through a dramatic last four contest to beat Ryan Davies on the final black.
Wang showed few signs of nerves in the early stages as he opened an early two frame lead courtesy of a break of 62 in the second.
Miah hit back, however, to level the contest at the mid-session interval and once more at 3-3 courtesy of a contribution of 78 in frame six.
It wasn’t until the seventh frame that the eventual champion finally moved ahead and one frame away from glory. Wang wasn’t going down without a fight though and forced the first ever deciding frame in the history of the WSF Championship by taking the eighth.
It was Miah who held his nerve and a break of 51 was enough to secure a famous victory for the Englishman who let out a roar of relief after potting the match-winning ball.
Following his victory, Miah said: “I feel very relieved. I’m so happy that I’ve won it and I’m back on the World Snooker Tour. That was the goal this season and I’ve achieved that.”
“Falling off the Tour was a reality check. At the beginning it was hard to take in, but I carried on and as the season went on I knew I had to pull up my socks and get the job done. Being a snooker player is not easy, you’re by yourself, but the tournament has been great – obviously because I won it!”
Speaking about opponent, Miah praised him: “Wang is an amazing young player. You can see he is very talented and very mature for his age, but this is what you expect from China. He will definitely get on the Tour – he is that good.”
Looking ahead to his return to the WST, Miah said: “I need to stay on the Tour and try to climb up the rankings. Now I’ve got my own club, it makes it a bit easier. I’ve spoken to Alfie (Burden) and everyone at the club has tuned in – this is a great thing to bring back for the people of the club.”
The World Snooker Federation would like to thank the Bulgarian Snooker Federation (BSF), the Hotel Marinela in Sofia and all the officials and players who have made the 2026 WSF Championships a success.
