World number one Judd Trump crashes out of China Open to qualifier Noppon Saengkham

World number one Trump arrived in Taiyuan full of confidence having won last week’s Shanghai Masters invitational, but he fell at the opening hurdle of the revived China Open to a player who had beaten him just once in their previous eight visits.

Thai ace Saengkham - who had to navigate two rounds of qualifying in Leicester earlier this summer to reach the main draw in the Far East - took the opening frame with the help of a 64 break and then doubled his lead with the second. However, Trump went in all-square at the mid-session interval following efforts of 85 and 91.

But on resumption, the pendulum swung again, as world number 45 Saengkham strung together three frames to go 5-2 up, fashioning runs of 51 and 120 in the sixth and seventh, respectively.

The qualifier had the chance to get the job done in frame eight, but whilst on an attempted clearance, he missed the final green. The frame would eventually be decided on the final pink as Trump sank it into the yellow pocket from distance to keep his hopes alive.

However, after a botched safety from Trump early on in frame nine, Saengkham composed himself and fully punished with a decisive break of 78 to record one of his most famous victories on the World Snooker Tour, and end a five-match losing streak to his opponent.

Saengkham - whose only other top tier victory over Trump came at the 2018 Welsh Open - will face either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Jackson Page in next week’s last 16.

It has been a mixed start to the new professional snooker season for 34-year-old Saengkham, who lost in qualifying for the Wuhan, Shenzhen, and English Open ranking events, but did reach the Championship League Finals Day.

Trump almost certain to lose world number one spot

Given his Shanghai success from just a week ago, and his head-to-head record against Saengkham, Trump’s round one elimination is definitely an upset.

The China Open - which this year has a top prize of £250,000, the most lucrative in Chinese snooker history - holds very fond memories for Trump as it was the first of his current 31 world ranking event titles when he made his big career breakthrough in Beijing in 2011. But he will play no further part this time around in Taiyuan, and will have to focus on the Wuhan Open near the end of this month.

Being a top 16 seed for the event but losing his opening match, Trump will collect £10,000 in prize money, but none of that amount will go towards his ranking points total.

Regardless of what else happens in Taiyuan over the coming days, the Englishman will remain as snooker’s world number one at the end of the tournament, but his time at the top for this current stint is almost certainly running out.

That’s because he has got £500,000 coming off his rolling two-year tally at the end of the Wuhan Open - the prize he won at the 2024 Saudi Arabia Masters. With no points coming from the China Open, and with the top prize in Wuhan ‘only’ being £175,000, Trump’s cumulative rankings amount is facing a serious reduction with several players - mainly Neil Robertson, Zhao Xintong, and Wu Yize - in hot pursuit to usurp him.

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