2026 Northern Ireland Open: Judd Trump Joins Growing List of Shock First-Round Casualties

Former World Champion Trump joined a sizeable list of top 16 ranked stars who exited the £550,400 world ranking event across the opening two days after being ousted 4-3 by qualifier Martin O’Donnell at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.

World number 56 O'Donnell compiled breaks of 64, 50 and 52 as he led by a single frame three times on Monday night, but Trump - with efforts of 91, 52 and 94 - levelled up on each occasion.

However, former Welsh Open finalist O'Donnell got in front when it mattered the most, taking the seventh and deciding frame to score his first professional victory over Trump having lost all eight of his previous encounters against him.

Next up for O’Donnell is a round of 32 meeting with 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel who defeated Lei Peifan, 4-1, earlier in the day.

Trump’s exit is a shock given his incredible record at the Northern Ireland Open. The former world number one is the most decorated player in the tournament’s history having won the title four times, and been in six of the last eight finals. Heading into his tie with O’Donnell, Trump had won 43 of his last 47 matches in the Home Nations Series event.

Carnage continues for top seeds at Northern Ireland Open

All five top 16 cueists who featured on the opening Sunday lost - Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Xiao Guodong and Ali Carter - and those numbers continued to swell on Monday.

Reigning Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin was sent packing in the morning session as Jamie Jones registered runs of 64, 65 and 63 in a 4-1 victory. On the same main table a few hours later, current Welsh Open champion Barry Hawkins was also eliminated with Daniel Wells racking up a break of 106 during a 4-2 win.

And the curse of table number one for the favourites continued later in the afternoon as Ronnie O’Sullivan - despite looking in total control at 3-1 up after efforts of 56, 138 and 72 - was stunned, 4-3, by Hong Kong’s Ka Wai Cheung.

On one of the side tables, though, former world and reigning Masters champion Kyren Wilson became the first top 16 seed to negotiate their initial hurdle as he comfortably dispatched Ben Mertens, top scoring with an 81 in a 4-0 whitewash success.

David Gilbert was in brilliant scoring form as he constructed a hat-trick of century breaks - 106, 111, 104 - in a 4-1 win over rookie Oliver Sykes.

Former World Champion Stuart Bingham joined an exclusive club as he notched up his 1,000th match win in professional competition after getting past Yao Pengcheng, 4-2. Bingham is only the sixth player to achieve the feat, following in the footsteps of John Higgins, Mark Williams, Mark Selby, O’Sullivan and Trump.

This season’s only multiple title winner, Championship League and British Open winner Jak Jones (103 break) also went through to the last 32, as did Zhang Anda (110) and Pang Junxu.

The final result to be filed from Monday’s programme went the way of John Higgins who struck a 121 in a 4-1 win over Liam Highfield. Higgins became the first top 16 player to triumph on table one in this year’s tournament.

The remaining round one (last 64) fixtures will be completed across Tuesday’s morning and afternoon sessions before the last 32 starts in the evening.

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