There was one major upset yesterday at the 2026 International championship with the elimination of Judd Trump. That said, the man who beat Judd is Fan Zhengyi, a player who often seems to find an extra gear when facing top players, and who, let’s not forget, has won a ranking event before, the 2022 European Masters. That time he had beaten Kyren Wilson, seeded 5 at the time, and Yan Bingtao, rseeded 12 en route to the final, where he defeated Graeme Dott, seeded 17th.
Last week’s Northern Ireland Open champion Kyren Wilson admits he used his frustration as fuel to come from 5-3 down and beat Liam Highfield 6-5 at the International Championship in Nanjing.
The Warrior captured the Alex Higgins Trophy for the second time in Belfast last Sunday, thrashing Jak Jones 9-2 in the final to win the 11th ranking title of his career.
Wilson was on the ropes this afternoon, but breaks of 51, 127 and 75 in the last three frames saw him turn the tie on its head and emerge a 6-5 victor. After the match the defending Masters champion and 2024 Crucible king admitted he is setting his sights on this month’s UK Championship, where he is aiming to complete the Triple Crown set.
“He played very strongly today. I think every frame had a high break. I find Liam very difficult to play against. I think our styles clash and I play a lot faster. Liam is a little bit more methodical. I got a bit angry at 5-3 and I finished strongly,” said 34-year-old Wilson.
“It took eight frames to keep calm, in the ninth I got a bit angry and lost my composure, but it fired me up. Before that I missed one or two balls but afterwards I played well.
“I want to win the UK Championship. It is the tournament that is missing from my CV. It would be brilliant to complete the Triple Crown, but there are so many good players so it will be difficult.”
Three-time World Champion Mark Williams continued his strong form with a 6-2 defeat of India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha.
The 51-year-old Welshman was runner-up to Ali Carter at September’s English Open and made the semis at last week’s Northern Ireland Open, where he lost out 6-5 to Jak Jones.
Williams composed contributions of 98, 123, 126 and 67 during this morning’s victory and now faces a mouth-watering meeting with quickfire Thai Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
Williams said: “I can’t grumble at getting to quarters and semis of ranking tournaments with all these players in them. In a few months I’m 52, so it is unbelievable to even still be competing. I should be long gone by this age, but we keep on trucking!“
Former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi scored a shock 6-5 defeat of 2019 World Champion Judd Trump.
It’s a second consecutive early exit for the Ace in the Pack, who bowed out 4-3 in his first match at the Northern Ireland Open at the hands of Martin O’Donnell.
Today’s result was Fan’s first ever win over Trump and his reward is a meeting with Steven Hallworth in the next round.
World Champion and defending International Champion Wu Yize scored a 6-1 win over Robbie Williams, while world number one Zhao Xintong overcame a game David Lilley 6-4. They now play Stephen Maguire and Sam Craigie respectively.
There have already been more upsets today and a maximum by Theppy1 … but that’s for tomorrow’s report.
Here is the report by WST on what happened yesterday, day 1 of the event:
International Championship: Day One
Australia’s Neil Robertson produced a fine display to brush aside Jiang Jun 6-2 at the International Championship in Nanjing, but ever the perfectionist, the Melbourne cueman still ended the game hungry for more centuries.
Robertson top scored with 133 in today’s victory, ending with contributions of 82 and 94. However, it was the last two frames and his inability to convert them into three-figure runs which irked the world number three, who now faces Wang Xinbo, who scored a late night 6-3 win over Jak Jones.
This season, 44-year-old Robertson is donating £100 for every century he makes to the charity Talking Forward, which offers support to families impacted by child abuse. The charity was co-founded by Robertson’s wife Mille, who is currently undertaking a PhD in criminology.
“It is how I’ve always been. It is a good sign when I’m annoyed at things like that. Right now, every time I come to the table I feel like I’m going to clear up. It is always a nice feeling to clear the table. My game is in a really good place now and that was a tough opening match. I’m very pleased,” said 2010 World Champion Robertson.
“I’m donating £100 for every century. It is really important, because this is what Mille has been working towards for so many years. She has done amazing work and it is nice to contribute in some way and raise the profile of it.
“She puts a lot of time into it and this isn’t a charity which gets a great deal of coverage. It is really important and it helps thousands of lives.”
Four-time World Champion Mark Selby overcame the legendary Jimmy White 6-2 to book his place in the next round.
White, aged 64, is still showing his class on snooker’s biggest stage and overcame Matthew Stevens 6-5 in qualifying to secure his place in Nanjing.
It was a difficult day for Selby, with it being the 27th anniversary of his father passing away. He managed to produce a strong performance on the table and breaks of 72 and 67 helped him on his way to victory. Next up Selby faces Hossein Vafaei.
Selby said: “It was a tough day for me but I’m happy to get through. I love Jimmy. There isn’t a person on tour more well liked than him. To still be playing some great stuff at 64 years old is amazing.”
World Champion and defending champion Wu Yize put on a dominant display to whitewash Hammad Miah 6-0.
Last year Wu lifted his maiden ranking crown here in Nanjing with a 10-6 defeat of John Higgins in the final. He would go on to defeat Shaun Murphy 18-7 later that season at the World Championship to become Crucible king.
A top run of 129 helped Wu to overcome Miah this evening and he now moves on to continue his title defence against Robbie Williams.
World number one Zhao Xintong made breaks of 131 and 128 en route to a 6-1 defeat of Ian Burns. He will now meet David Lilley in the next round.
Welsh 20-year-old Liam Davies continued his tremendous run of form with a 6-2 defeat of China’s Zhou Yuelong. His reward is a meeting with Ricky Walden in the next round. Defeat ends Zhou’s hopes of automatically qualifying for the UK Championship, with the cut off following the conclusion of this week’s event.
I didn’t see a ball1, so can’t comment on the action.
What Millie and Neil Robertson are doing is wonderful. Hats off to them.
The fact that it was the 27th anniversary of Mark Selby’s dad passing certainly brought painful memories forward, but equally surely it brought memories of the promise he made to him on his deathbed. Mark’s father had raised him as a single father after his wife, Mark’s mother, had abandoned them: it was the promise to become a World Champion at snooker. Mark has more than fulfilled that promise, he has achieved everything there is to be achieved in the game, several times. His father would be very proud if he was still here to see it and live it with his son.