2024 Xi'an Grand Prix Snooker: Judd Trump continues perfect start to season

A total of 24 matches were completed across three sessions. The majority of round one matches were played a few weeks ago at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester but several opening round ties were held over to the main venue, including those involving Ronnie O'Sullivan and Kyren Wilson, who both won.

Another big name to appear on Monday in Xi'an was Judd Trump, who eased through to round three of the £850,000 competition following a 5-0 victory over Ma Hailong.

World number two Trump is looking for a record eighth career ranking title in China, and the Englishman maintained his 100% start to the 2024/25 season having skipped the Championship League but won the Shanghai Masters last month.

World number one Mark Allen was a winner during the afternoon session in the Far East; the Northern Irishman top scored with a break of 111 as he saw off Liu Hongyu, 5-2.

Both Gary Wilson and Jak Jones are into the last 32 as they finished their latest tests with big breaks. Wilson fashioned a 128 to defeat Ben Mertens 5-1 while recent Crucible finalist Jones compiled a 134 to wrap up a 5-3 victory over Tian Pengfei. Mark Williams also ended with a three-figure contribution in victory, constructing exactly 100 to round off a 5-2 result against Mark Davis.

It didn't go to plan for all the top 16 ranked cueists, though, as both Ding Junhui and John Higgins exited the tournament via deciding frames after topsy turvy contests where there was never more than a frame between the players.

Former World Seniors Snooker Championship finalist Alfie Burden denied home hero Ding. World number 78 Burden eventually came through on the main feature table having seen his opponent level at 4-4 with a break of 110.

Higgins - who is clinging on to his status in the elite bracket - was stopped by Thailand’s Sunny Akani, who continues to enjoy his return to the professional circuit with his fourth win from as many outings this term.

Tom Ford was the other top 16 star to depart on Monday (see earlier article via link above).

The in-form David Gilbert is now 12 matches unbeaten this season as he advanced to round three with a 5-2 win against Jordan Brown, meanwhile Jack Lisowski crafted breaks of 124 and 126 in successive frames as he defeated Joe Perry, 5-2.

Former world champions Stuart Bingham and Graeme Dott both defeated Chinese amateur wildcards in round one games - Bingham made a 111 break - and Lyu Haotian also made a 111 in his second round 5-2 triumph over Latvian rookie professional, Artemijs Zizins.

In a match that had to be pulled off at 4-4 and completed several hours later, Matthew Selt squeezed past Joe O'Connor.

Ranking event winners Ryan Day, Chris Wakelin and Jimmy Robertson were also victors on Monday. Robertson trailed four times to Dean Young before coming good when he had to in a deciding frame.

For the full draw, results, schedules, format, prize money and how to watch, please visit our 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix Tournament Information Centre here.