When does new 2023/24 snooker season begin? When do Ronnie O'Sullivan and Luca Brecel return? Full calendar, dates

World champion Luca Brecel could return to action next month when he defends his Championship League title at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. The new 2023/24 season begins in earnest with the staging of the 208-player Q School later this month. There are 16 ranking events provisionally pencilled in, including three in mainland China, the first major events in the country since 2019.

Luca Brecel with the World Championship trophy in Sheffield.

Image credit: TNT Sports

The provisional 2023/24 snooker calendar sees the sport return to mainland China for the first time since 2019 with the staging of three tournaments worth over £2m in prize money.

The elite non-ranking Shanghai Masters (September), and Wuhan Open (October) and International Championship (November) – both enjoying full ranking status – will be the first events to be held in the country since the global pandemic decimated the sporting calendar three years ago.

China last staged a World Snooker Tour competition in November 2019 when Judd Trump defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-5 in the World Open final in Yushan.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan overcame Marco Fu 6-4 to win the Hong Kong Masters before a world-record snooker audience of over 9,000 fans last October, but there is no confirmation yet about when the invitational event will return to the calendar.

The season begins with eight places on the main circuit available via the 208-player Q School at Leicester's Morningside Arena later this month.

A further four spots will be on the line at Asia-Oceania Q School in Bangkok in early June.

The Championship League is the first ranking event of the new season with Leicester hosting the various groups of the competition between June 26-July 21.

World champion Luca Brecel lifted the title last year with a 3-1 win over Lu Ning and will be among the favourites with O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and Judd Trump among the leading men who competed in last year's event.

The German city of Nuremberg is due to hold its first European Masters in late August with Kyren Wilson defending his title, before the British Open is staged in Cheltenham in late September.

There are 16 ranking events pencilled in ahead of the 2023/24 campaign and six non-ranking tournaments, including the Champion of Champions, Masters and Six-Red World Championship.

The World Mixed Doubles and Tour Championship will be staged at Manchester Central in late Match and early April, before the traditional season-ending 48th World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.