Ronnie was beaten by Jian Jun in his opening match at the 2026 Shenzhen Open and he wasn’t the only big casualty. In fact, none of the “class of 92” survived their opening match, and, as far as I know, this had never happened before. Lewis I’m sure will correct me if I’m wrong …
Here is the report shared by WST:
Shenzhen Open Day One: Big Names Tumble
Home hero and world number one Zhao Xintong was one of a number of big-name casualties, after losing out 5-4 to Scotland’s Scott Donaldson on the opening day of the Shenzhen Open.
Full Results and Schedule
Zhao, who became China’s first World Champion in 2025, shot to the summit of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings for the first time earlier this season. The 29-year-old went on to be runner-up at the Wuhan Open, losing out to compatriot Chang Bingyu in the title match. A huge crowd of over 3,500 fans watched on this evening, hoping for Shenzhen cueman Zhao to win, but they left disappointed.
World number 66 Donaldson has had a slow start to the season, but showed sparks of his form at the recent qualifiers, earning places in the final stages of the Northern Ireland Open and the Scottish Open.
A break of 77 in the third frame tonight gave Donaldson a 2-1 lead, before runs of 51 and 82 helped Zhao en route to two in a row and a 3-2 lead.
Donaldson replied emphatically and breaks of 105 and 62 took him to the verge of victory at 4-3. He had the first opportunity to clinch the win in the eighth but broke down on 50, before a run of 79 from Zhao forced a decider. Both players spurned chances but crucially it was a run of 46 from Donaldson which gave him a momentous win. He will face Pang Junxu in the next round.
“I don’t think he turned up to the level he can today, but I felt that I was the best I’ve been this season. I’m just happy that all the work I’ve put in is reaping the rewards,” said 32-year-old Donaldson.
“I know what it feels like. When I play the Scottish Open, I don’t want it to feel different but I do. If he got through that match he might have gone on to win the tournament, but I got through and I’m very happy.
“You can only control how you feel out there. Just because you are losing games doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. It is a brutal sport and I just want to keep feeling alright.“
Two-time ranking quarter-finalist Jiang Jun scored a stunning 5-2 win over seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Despite having made the semis of the Wuhan Open earlier this season, O’Sullivan has been openly critical of his form in recent times. Earlier this season, he suggested the 2028 World Championship could mark the end of his playing career.
This evening’s encounter was the first-ever meeting between the pair, with 21-year-old Jiang expressing his delight at a maiden win over the 41-time ranking event winner. His reward is a meeting with Zak Surety in the next round.
Jiang said: “O’Sullivan is a legendary player. I’ve watched him and learned from him since I was a kid. I had never played against a top player like him before, so this was my first time. If I get the opportunity in the future, I hope I can play against players like him more often and learn from them.
“I’ve played against Ding Junhui twice before, and I felt the atmosphere was probably quite similar to this. I didn’t specifically look at the crowd, but I felt there might have been even more people this time. During my matches, I don’t look at how many spectators there are because I know it could affect my mentality.“Mark Williams, who won this event last year when it was staged in Xi’an, suffered an early end to his title defence with a 5-4 loss against Fan Zhengyi.
Williams was runner-up at the recent English Open, but bows out at the first hurdle this week. After potting what appeared to be a match-ball pink in the decider, the white went in-off. Fan stepped up and deposited the pink to seal victory. He now plays Yuan Sijun.
Judd Trump required just 54 minutes to beat Huang Jiahao 5-0 in a blistering display. Breaks of 109, 69, 67, 67 and 54 saw him sprint to the line this afternoon. He now gets a bye to the last 16 after Anthony McGill was forced to withdraw due to medical reasons.
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match
And some more images of that match
As well as some videos, shared on Youtube by WSt and TNT:
There won’t be any sort of turnaround if he only decides to play in the Chinese events. He is bascially just a half time pro. And he even skipped the International Championship because he had to play a qualifying match in the UK.
I don’t really see a player who tries everything he can to improve his form in those 2 years.
We actually don’t know why he skipped it. This is an assumption many make, but not a certainty. What I believe is that, if he still lives in Dubai, he may have a good practice facility, but no partner able to give him a real challenge in serious practice matches.
What’s the point of this?
The point is this: he’s still a pro, he entered the event, he showed up, as he should do. He didn’t play well, he’s 50 and he may, probably will, never play well again and, if so, he will likely retire end of next season. That’s all. Happy?
“he showed up as he should do”
so why do you defend him when he doesn’t show up?
I defend his, and every other person’s right to do what they think is best for themselves or for those close to them, at any given moment. And I defend their right to keep their private life private. We do NOT know what is behind their decisions, we have no right to know, and therefore we should neither judge, nor spread baseless assumptions. That’s all.
It’s totally not surprising, it was painful, he played so bad. But somehow I don’t expect anything else. A very sad ending to a brilliant career. 😥 (I also hope no appearance fees were paid for this pitiful display )
Ronnie’s career has arguably reached a new nadir. For his sake and ours, I hope he doesn’t have a contract that requires him to play again next season. I think another season like this one would make him very unhappy, and cause him to retire on a very sour note…
From what he said recently , he probably will play next season and If he doesn’t improve that will be his last.