Judd Trump out, but other star names progress at the 2026 International Championship

A two-time winner of the International Championship crown, Trump was ousted by Fan Zhengyi, 6-5, during Sunday afternoon's session in Nanjing.

Having seen off Liu Wenwei in the opening round the day before, things were going according to plan for former world champion Trump in his latest outing as a break of 63 helped him take a 2-0 lead.

However, former European Masters champion Fan then went on a four-frame winning streak as runs of 50, 53 and 73 assisted him to a 4-2 advantage.

World number five Trump responded with efforts of 72 and 66 to level; Fan made a 71 in the ninth to go 5-4 up but Trump forced the contest all the way with an 81.

In what was a tense and low-scoring deciding frame, though, world number 51 Fan got across the line to register his first professional win over Trump having lost his previous three to him.

Triple Crown winner Trump has had a topsy-turvy start to the top-flight snooker season. He began it in style by winning his second Shanghai Masters invitational crown, but the following week he lost in the opening round of the China Open.

Trump is yet to reach a ranking final this term, but has appeared in two semi-finals and two quarter-finals. The 31-time ranking event winner lost his opening match at the Northern Ireland Open a couple of weeks ago, and has now suffered another early elimination.

Someone who was very close to joining Trump out the International Championship exit door was Kyren Wilson.

Newly-minted Northern Ireland Open champion from last weekend, Wilson battled back from the brink to deny Liam Highfield in a deciding frame.

In a high-scoring affair, breaks of 55, 99, 102, 51 and 79 aided Highfield to a 5-3 advantage. The recent British Open semi-finalist then held a handy lead in frame nine as he saw the winning line approaching.

However, Wilson - who struck 56, 82 and 101 earlier in the tie - countered with a 51 to pinch the ninth on the final pink, before contributions of 127 and 75 in the final two frames progressed him in this £825,000 world ranking tournament.

Earlier in the day, snooker legends John Higgins (122 break) and Mark Williams (123, 126) both advanced with respective victories over Lyu Haotian (6-3) and Ishpreet Singh Chadha (6-2).

Ding Junhui top scored with a 132 in getting the better of Chinese compatriot Gao Yang, 6-2, to keep his hopes alive of defending the £175,000 he pocketed when he won this title two years ago.

International Championship winner in 2023, Zhang Anda (111 break) is through, as is reigning Wuhan Open champion Chang Bingyu.

Marco Fu (102) scored an impressive 6-4 win over Stuart Bingham; Fu will face Belgian youngster Julien Leclercq in the last 32.

The Republic of Ireland's number one Aaron Hill won by whitewash, meanwhile Oliver Lines and Stephen Maguire were also victorious.

Recent Shenzhen Open runner-up Yuan Sijun (103) is still in; he defeated Joe O'Connor 6-2, despite O'Connor constructing a 129 and a rare 146.

That is only the 41st 146 in professional snooker history.

The remaining round of 64 matches will be played on Sunday evening at the SNC National Fitness Centre in the Far East.

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