2026 International Championship: Day of high breaks and high drama as three big stars fall

In what was one of the most action-packed days in International Championship snooker history, three of the world’s top four ranked players were eliminated, the world number one survived by the skin of his teeth, a maximum 147 break was made, and an even rarer 146 - the second in just three days.

Wu Yize, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby - the world numbers two, three and four - were all eliminated from the £825,000 world ranking event in Nanjing.

Reigning champion Wu's title defence was stopped by Stephen Maguire who won 6-5 on the final pink in the deciding frame.

Current World Champion and newly-minted Shenzhen Open champion Wu had dropped just one frame across the opening two rounds but needed frame ten - during which he made a 110 - to force a decider against Maguire.

Wu was looking good for the win as he built a 50-point lead, but when a cannon didn't go to plan, he missed a tricky recovery pot into a baulk pocket.

This brought former UK Champion Maguire - who had already crafted runs of 67, 58, 78, 73 and 133 - back to the table, where he sank an opening red to middle and went on to produce a classy counter of 68.

Earlier in the day, two-time winner of this crown Selby was defeated 6-2 by Hossein Vafaei.

Robertson has not won a title since August 2025, and his wait continues as he was dismissed by teenage rookie Wang Xinbo who is through to the last 16 of a professional event for the first time.

The 18-year-old from China compiled efforts of 70, 60, 131, 124, 68 and 84 in a 6-4 victory to set up a meeting with Marco Fu on Tuesday.

Ding Junhui's last-gasp victory over Zhang Anda on the final black of the deciding frame has kept his hopes alive of preserving his top 16 status beyond this competition, but the most climactic outcome of the day was still to come.

It involved global standings leader Zhao Xintong who may very well be thinking how he’s still in the draw at the SNC National Fitness Centre.

Facing Sam Craigie, from 2-0 up Zhao went 4-2 down, but bounced back from botching an opportunity in frame six by stringing together the next three for a 5-4 lead. Former world under-21 champion Craigie took frame ten on the colours, though, to send yet another contest to the distance.

In a wild deciding frame, Craigie missed the final blue when 18 points up. Zhao returned and coolly mopped up the three remaining balls for a re-spotted black.

After Craigie had missed another chance to win the tie - this time on the additional ball - he later sank an incredible pot, only to watch in agony as the cueball trundled into a baulk pocket to award his opponent the win.

This is another bitter pill for Craigie to swallow, just days after coming so close to reaching his maiden ranking event final at the Northern Ireland Open.

Elsewhere on a hectic day in the Far East where all the round of 32 matches were played, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh compiled a maximum 147 break in the opening frame of his fixture with Mark Williams. His eighth feat of snooker perfection in professional competition, Thai ace Un-Nooh took just seven minutes and 20 seconds for the sequence.

However, it was three-time world champion Williams - who in comparison had a highest break of 59 in the match - who ran out a 6-3 victor.

Next up for Williams is a meeting with fellow ‘Class of 92’ graduate John Higgins who defeated Xu Si, 6-2.

Higgins has talked about ‘going back to basics’, reverting back to using a brass ferrule, and it may be doing the trick as he constructed breaks of 146 and 103 in his latest outing.

That contribution of 146 - that also came in his opening frame - is only the 42nd such total in top-flight snooker history, compared to what is now 247 maximum 147 breaks. Bizarrely, though, the 41st 146 arrived just two days ago by Joe O’Connor in this event.

Winner of the recent Northern Ireland Open, Kyren Wilson is aiming for back-to-back trophies on the World Snooker Tour. 'The Warrior' battled back from 5-3 down to edge Liam Highfield in the last 64 but had a much more comfortable passage today with a 6-1 win over Ryan Day.

Wuhan Open champion Chang Bingyu notched up breaks of 109, 136, 101 and 128 in a 6-3 success over world number 11 Chris Wakelin.

The result holds extra significance for Chang, who provisionally goes into the world's top 16 for the first time. If he stays there at the end of the week, he will be a seed for the UK Championship and won't need to qualify.

Fan Zhengyi, Yuan Sijun, Liam Davies, Oliver Lines, Si Jiahui and Aaron Hill were the other match winners on Monday.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 International Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.