13th August

Reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong suffered a shock exit at the first hurdle of the China Open, beaten by fellow countryman Zhang Anda in a dramatic decider at the Riverside Sports Centre in Taiyuan. Zhao raced into a 4-0 lead in front of his home crowd, but Zhang fought back to level at 5-5, forcing a nerve-shredding final frame.

With the match on the line, Zhao missed a difficult cannon attempt on the final black, handing Zhang the frame and the victory. It was among the biggest shocks of the tournament's opening days, with 13th seed Zhao among the pre-tournament favourites on home soil.

World number one Judd Trump's hopes of a second straight ranking title following his Shanghai Masters win were dashed with an early exit in Taiyuan, closing the door on a blockbuster second-round meeting with Ronnie O'Sullivan. Elsewhere, former champion John Higgins also fell early, beaten by Stuart Bingham.

O'Sullivan, meanwhile, recovered from a slow start against Jackson Page to win six frames in a row and seal a 6-2 victory, setting up a second-round clash with Noppon Saengkham. Defending champion Neil Robertson opened his title defence against Chang Bingyu as the tournament's top seed, seeking to add to the title he won back in 2019.