Zhao Xintong and Judd Trump continue results struggle after suffering early exits at the Xi'an Grand Prix

Trump - who made the ninth 147 maximum break of his professional career on Tuesday - was defeated 5-4 by former UK and Masters champion Matthew Stevens in a compelling climax.

Having secured the opening two frames, a break of 84 in the fourth helped Trump go into the mid-session 3-1 up, but on resumption, 48-year-old Stevens strung together three frames in-a-row (90 break, frame six) to reach the hill first at 4-3 up.

And it looked like job done for the two-time World Championship finalist as he left his opponent needing snookers in frame eight. However, Trump didn't pack it in, obtaining penalty points for snookers he laid on the blue and pink balls, before potting pink and black to force a re-spotted black.

On the re-spot, Stevens overhit a safety shot, allowing Trump to snick in a thin cut into a middle pocket to complete an incredible turnaround.

Former world number four Stevens, though, managed to regroup from that big shock in the deciding frame, eventually getting over the line without allowing Trump to score a point. Next up for the Welshman is Lyu Haotian in the last 32.

From his five ranking event outings this season, so far, Trump - who has recently changed to a new cue - has failed to reach a quarter-final. Trump is currently positioned 39th on the one-year/seasonal list.

A few hours later in the evening session at the Qujiang Sports Complex, Crucible king Zhao joined Trump out the exit door as he was dismissed by Robert Milkins, 5-2.

In a contest where only two half-century breaks made - one by each player - Milkins won four consecutive frames from 2-1 down to score a morale-boosting victory in his bid to avoid relegation from the World Snooker Tour at the end of this season.

Two-time ranking event winner Milkins meets Jimmy Robertson on Thursday.

Like Trump, Zhao - who created history by becoming China’s and Asia's first world professional snooker champion a few months ago - has not reached a ranking event quarter-final this term from five engagements.

The 28-year-old is 23rd (at the time of writing) on the seasonal list, with over half his prize money points this campaign coming from winning his opening match at the Saudi Arabia Masters.

Of course, there is time for both Trump and Zhao to turn things around this season and qualify for all three Players Series tournaments in the new year, but these latest results will add extra scrutiny on their upcoming matches.

It also won't help the grades that seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry gave them in the latest episode of the Snooker Club Podcast during which the Scot said that he felt Trump had "fallen from grace a little".

They weren’t the only big names, though, to be eliminated from Xi’an on day two of the main venue, televised stages, as Mark Allen and Mark Selby were both defeated in deciding frames by Oli Lines and Mark Davis, respectively.

Advancing to the last 32 after wins included recently crowned British Open champion Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson.

Visit our 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix tournament information centre here for details on the draw, results, prize money, schedule and how to watch.