The Group draws have been made for the 2026 United States National Snooker Championship, which will take place at two venues in California, the PABSA Academy in Santa Clara and California Snooker in San Jose, from September 4 - 8.

Due to logistical reasons, the United States Snooker Association (USSA) had taken the decision to limit the number of entries to 48 for this year's Championship, though with the announcement that the event would be expanded to be hosted at two venues, it offered players more opportunities to play competitive matches.

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The Championship's new main venue is the PABSA Academy where group matches will be contested alongside California Snooker.

The 48 players have been drawn into eight groups of six players, with a seeded player heading each of the groups. The seedings are based on player performances over the past three Championships.

Defending champion Renat Denkha of Chicago is the number one seed and is aiming for his third successive title. Five former champions are also participating, including record six times champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed, who is unseeded this year.

The 2023 champion and 2024 runner-up, Daren Taylor, is the number two seed. Two-time former champion and six-time runner-up Ajeya Prabhakar, who lost to Denkha in last year's final, is the number three seed.

Former three times champion and one time runner-up Sargon Isaac is the number six seed, while 2022 champion and 2023 runner-up Steven Wong is the number seven seed.

In addition to the seeded players, the Championship has attracted a strong field of highly experienced and high-caliber competitors. Their presence promises to make this one of the most competitive editions yet, with standards of play befitting this prestigious Championship.

The top three players from each group will advance into the knockout stage, with the group winner going straight into Round 2 and the second and third placed players battling it out in Round 1 for the right to face a group winner in the next round. Round 1 will be shared between the two venues, before the Championship moves exclusively to the PABSA Academy from Round 2 onwards for its conclusion.

The complete match schedule of the group stage of the Championship can be viewed on the 2026 United States National Snooker Championship section of Cloud Snooker.