Defending champion Neil Robertson navigates tricky opener to advance at China Open

Robertson has waited over seven years to defend this title, having won the last edition in 2019 when he defeated Jack Lisowski in the Beijing final.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 staging was cancelled, and the tournament remained off the professional snooker calendar until its revival this season with new host city Taiyuan putting up a prize fund in excess of £1.2 million.

Number one seed Robertson wasn't given any luxuries in the draw, though, as he faced young Chinese ace Chang Bingyu - one of the hottest properties on the snooker scene right now - for his opening assignment.

Playing each other on snooker’s top-flight for the first time, Robertson deposited the opening frame before a 74 helped him double his advantage. The Australian continued to capitalise on his opponent's early struggles by claiming the third, and then completing a mini-session whitewash with a break of 114.

On resumption, there was more one-way traffic with Robertson crafting a 77 for 5-0 before Chang began to rally.

The world number 47 - who has made three maximum 147 breaks on the Tour within the past 10 months - averted the whitewash and got a foothold as he registered runs of 86 and 63 to make it 5-2.

Chang raised the possibility of an almighty comeback by also winning frame eight from behind with the aid of a 65, but Robertson avoided any further stress in taking the ninth, 81 points to nil, to stamp a 6-3 victory.

“I will give it a crack”: Robertson on world number one race

Last season's Saudi Arabia Masters champion where he banked the £500,000 top prize, Robertson is currently the world number two but firmly in the race for top spot.

World number one and newly-minted Shanghai Masters champion Judd Trump - who suffered a shock first round loss to Noppon Saengkham on Sunday - looks likely to lose that status due to having a significant amount of prize money removed from his rolling tally later this month.

Six players can mathematically usurp him for that number one accolade, although the most likely contenders are Robertson, Zhao Xintong, and reigning World Champion Wu Yize.

Robertson last held the world number one ranking in January 2015, but admitted to the World Snooker Tour shortly after his win over Chang that it is something he hasn’t been thinking about too much.

"Getting to number one is not something I have set out to do” said the 44-year-old.

“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.”

Next up for Robertson in Taiyuan is world number 16 Si Jiahui who cruised past qualifier and Chinese compatriot Jiang Jun, 6-0, during the same session.

Like Trump, Si has a sizeable chunk of money coming off his two-year rankings total in the coming weeks and his top 16 position is under serious threat. Victory over Jiang has at least guaranteed him £15,000 from this competition.

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