World Champion Wu Yize averts shock defeat on opening day of China Open

Playing his first ranking event match since his Crucible glory in May, Wu squeezed past Chinese compatriot Yao Pengcheng, 6-5, to advance in the record-breaking £1.2 million+ event in Taiyuan.

Wu - China’s second world snooker champion, following in the footsteps of Zhao Xintong from the year before - made his first competitive outing of the season at the recent Shanghai Masters where he bowed out to eventual champion Judd Trump in the semi-finals.

Against world number 79 Yao - the lowest ranked professional to reach the televised, main draw stages in the Far East - Wu was a firm favourite to progress, and everything was going according to the form book early on after the qualifier took the opening frame with the help of a 60 break.

World number four Wu took five of the next six frames along with runs of 106, 60, 100 and 94 to establish a 5-2 lead and be on the cusp of advancing with plenty of spare change.

However, Yao - who had fashioned a 101 in the fifth frame - had other ideas. The second-season professional won back-to-back frames to make it 5-4, and then forced a decider when claiming a close tenth frame.

In the final frame, Yao scored first with an effort of 30. A few moments later, Wu failed to escape from a snooker, but Yao missed a subsequent attempted pot on a red - in the process spreading open the pack of other reds.

World champ Wu compiled 44 before missing a red along the baulk cushion. After a poor safety from Yao, Wu added more points, but his tally wasn't quite yet decisive.

Following some safety play, Yao tried to cut in an ultra-thin red into the pink pocket but left it in the jaws.

Wu returned, amassed enough points to leave his opponent needing a snooker, and it wasn't too long before Yao offered his hand in concession after leaving on the final red.

Having breathed a huge sigh of relief, Wu can now turn his attention to facing David Gilbert in the last 16, next week.

What else happened on day one of the 2026 China Open?

It was a very eventful opening day at the China Open - returning to the top-flight calendar for the first time since 2019 - as three of the four top 16 seeds on the baize were eliminated.

Action got underway with the wildcard round in the morning session as Anthony McGill and Hossein Vafaei both whitewashed their amateur opponents, 6-0.

McGill progresses to meet Xiao Guodong, meanwhile Vafaei goes straight through to the last 16 as his scheduled first round date Mark Allen has withdrawn from this event and the Wuhan Open due to personal reasons.

Round one proper began in the afternoon in Taiyuan and there was success for qualifiers Gilbert and Zhou Yuelong.

Despite a big and partisan crowd against him, recent Championship League runner-up Gilbert dispatched home hero and number 15 seed Ding Junhui, 6-1, crafting century breaks (110, 113) in each of the last two frames. More on that result and reaction, here.

Joint record three-time China Open winner Mark Williams was defeated 6-3 by Zhou in a high-quality affair.

Zhou was in brilliant scoring form as breaks of 81, 133, 115 and 134 assisted him to a 4-1 lead over the world number eight.

Williams - who had earlier made a 71 in the third - rallied with contributions of 93 and 97 in closing the gap to one at 4-3. However, four-time ranking event runner-up Zhou bagged the eighth, and after Williams broke down on a 53 in frame nine, the Chinese ace fully punished with a counter-attacking run of 79 for the win

A few hours’ later during the same session as Wu, another Chinese qualifier saw off an experienced multiple-time ranking event winner as Liu Hongyu denied Barry Hawkins, 6-4.

World number 56 Liu registered breaks of 111 and 118 in navigating past the reigning Welsh Open champion - piecing together the final three frames from 4-3 down. Liu sets up a tie with Zhou in round two.

Saturday’s results in the Far East mean that Wu is the only seeded player left in the bottom quarter of the draw.

The China Open continues on Sunday with the remaining round one matches in the bottom half. Xiao Guodong, newly-minted Shanghai Masters champion Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy, and Ronnie O'Sullivan are all on the schedule.

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