Is it advantage Neil Robertson in August's race for world snooker number one?

The second round in Taiyuan is yet to be completed, but we’ve already seen several star names from the top of the world rankings defeated in the £1.2 million ranking event.

Fresh from his title victory at the Shanghai Masters invitational, many expected Judd Trump to enjoy another deep run here, but the world number one was stunned by qualifier Noppon Sanegkham in the opening round on Sunday.

Another fancied cueist who fell at the first hurdle was Zhao Xintong, as the 2025 World Champion exited amidst dramatic circumstances to Chinese compatriot and stablemate Zhang Anda on a deciding frame re-spotted black.

Current ‘Crucible King’ Wu Yize - playing in his first ranking tournament since his Sheffield success near the start of May - was fortunate to survive his opening assignment against Yao Pengcheng, but his luck ran out when he was comprehensively dispatched by an impressive David Gilbert in the last 16 on Wednesday.

With John Higgins sent packing by Stuart Bingham on Tuesday in round one, at the time of writing, the only player from the world’s current top five who is left in the 2026 China Open is Neil Robertson.

Robertson to return to world number one?

Australian Robertson is the reigning and defending China Open champion having won the last edition of the event held in 2019. The number one seed navigated a difficult initial test, getting past hot property Chang Bingyu, 6-3, to set up a round two date with world number 16 Si Jiahui.

Trump has been snooker’s world number one for nearly two years now. His latest stint at the summit of the global standings began in late August 2024 when he took over the accolade from Mark Allen.

For most of those past two years, Trump has held an unassailable lead at the top, with very few situations where a player(s) was within striking distance to overtake him.

But due to the nature of the two-year rolling world rankings system that the World Snooker Tour uses - based on prize money won - the picture is now very different, and it looks likely that Trump will relinquish top spot by the end of this month.

This is mainly because Trump has £500,000 coming off his total in a few weeks time for winning the 2024 Saudi Arabia Masters.

With that event no longer on the circuit, Trump was already facing a tall task to retain world number one, but with his early exit in Taiyuan - meaning he collected no ranking prize money - he has to win the upcoming Wuhan Open title, and hope a plethora of results go his way at both the ongoing China Open and in Wuhan.

Before the televised stages in Taiyuan began last Saturday, on the end-of-month provisional ranking list (on the WPBSA website here), Zhao was projected to be world number one, with Robertson in second. Wu was third, with Trump falling from first to fourth.

There are still many permutations possible throughout this tournament (and possibly the next), but there is already one certain scenario: if Robertson successfully defends the China Open title and pockets the £250,000 winner’s purse, he will be the world number one after the Wuhan Open later this month.

Robertson - who is now 44-years-old - was last on top of the world rankings in January 2015. He is one of only 12 players in professional snooker history to have earned such status.

But despite the possibility of achieving such a special feat, in an interview with the World Snooker Tour earlier this week, Robertson didn’t seem too preoccupied with it, saying: "Getting to number one is not something I have set out to do.

“Judd has been so far ahead for a long time it has not been in anyone's sights. He is about to lose the ranking points from Saudi a couple of years ago, which I will have to face next year. If it's up for grabs I will give it a crack but I just want to keep this run going and keep playing well.”

Mathematically, Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby are also in the running for world number one this month. At the time writing (they too are still in the China Open).

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 China Open snooker, visit our tournament information centre here.