Zhao Xintong's world number one hopes dealt blow after dramatic China Open defeat

The 2025 World Champion was ousted by Chinese compatriot Zhang Anda, 6-5, on a re-spotted black, in an enthralling contest that didn’t finish until gone midnight local time in Taiyuan.

A meeting between two good friends and stablemates - they are both based at the Victoria Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England - it was Zhao who took control early on as breaks of 50, 60 and 60 helped him to a 3-0 lead.

But former International Championship title winner Zhang got a foothold just before the mid-session interval with an 88, he then won four of the next five frames - including runs of 81 and 134 - to move 5-4 up.

With his back against the wall, Zhao - who earlier made it 4-2 with the aid of a 66 in frame six - forced the contest all the way following a 52 in the tenth.

In a pulsating final frame that saw the sizeable crowd in the arena engrossed, qualifier Zhang established a very handy lead before breaking down on an effort of 53.

Zhao replied to almost level the scores, but in developing the final red off a side cushion from the penultimate red, he failed to get on a colour, and elected to play safe.

Having been left a gap from distance, Zhang went for glory, but when he missed the red and left it on, most would have thought his opponent would clear for the match. However, Zhao did not get good position on the final pink, and with the thin angle he had, decided to cannon into the black; he potted the pink to put him seven ahead, but did not get on the black as he just missed the connection.

After a tense safety exchange, Zhang potted the black from distance to push the tie into the extra time of a re-spotted black.

Having won the toss, Zhao opted to play the opening shot of the tie-break, but botched his safety to leave Zhang an opportunity. Far from easy, Zhang potted the black into its own pocket to get the verdict by the barest of margins.

Zhang - who had to win two qualifying matches in Leicester several weeks ago to reach these televised stages in the Far East - will play world number 13 Chris Wakelin in the last 16 after the reigning Scottish Open defeated Tom Ford, 6-4, top scoring with a 110 in the process.

A big dent in Zhao Xintong’s world number one hopes?

Zhao’s early exit from Taiyuan means he will collect no ranking points from the event. He will pocket £10,000, but none of that will be added to his rolling total as a top 16 seed who lost their opening match.

Currently the world number three, Zhao is in the race to become world number one later this month with current top dog Judd Trump - who was also knocked out in round one a few days ago - very likely to be usurped as he has a significant amount of money coming off his tally following the conclusion of the Wuhan Open in a few weeks time.

Heading into these televised stages of the China Open, six players could mathematically climb to number one over the coming weeks, although now that’s only five with John Higgins also bowing out on Tuesday, to fellow former world snooker champion Stuart Bingham, 6-4.

On the end-of-month provisional rankings list - after both the China Open and Wuhan Open ranking events are completed - Zhao is projected top, with Neil Robertson second, and reigning World Champion Wu Yize third. Both Robertson and Wu are into the last 16 in Taiyuan.

If Zhao doesn’t reach the summit of the global standings this month - Ding Junhui is the only Asian ever to have been a world snooker number one - he will likely have chances elsewhere this season, as he is defending just £10,000 (from the 2024 UK Championship) from his total up until the 2027 World Snooker Championship.

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