World number one Judd Trump suffered a shock 6-3 defeat by Thailand's Noppon Saengkham on day two of the China Open, while Shaun Murphy broke a long-standing scoring record and Ronnie O'Sullivan fought back from two frames down to win his opening match on 9 August 2026.
Trump's loss to Saengkham, ranked 45th in the world, leaves his position atop the rankings in jeopardy before the month is out. The China Open, staged in Taiyuan for the first time since the event returned to the World Snooker Tour calendar, marks the first main ranking tournament of the 2026-27 season.
What happened to Trump against Saengkham?
Trump fought back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 with breaks of 85 and 91, but Saengkham reeled off three consecutive frames, including a match-high break of 120, to seal a 6-3 win. Saengkham now advances to face O'Sullivan in round two.
According to the tournament draw published ahead of the event, Trump's meeting with Saengkham and O'Sullivan's match against Jackson Page were both confirmed as round-one fixtures, with a separate schedule from snooker.org listing the Trump-Saengkham clash as taking place at 06:00 UTC on 9 August 2026 and O'Sullivan's tie against Page following at 11:30 UTC the same day.
Trump's setback comes only days after a career high. He had arrived in Taiyuan fresh from winning the 2026 Shanghai Masters, where he beat Kyren Wilson 11-6 in the final. As our earlier coverage detailed, Trump reached that final by defeating Wu Yize 10-6 in the semi-finals, having also come through matches against Barry Hawkins and John Higgins en route to the title — his second Shanghai Masters crown. That run made him the first winner of a major event in the new season, according to the BBC's report on the Shanghai final.
Trump has held the world number one ranking since August 2024, but to retain it he now needs victory at the upcoming Wuhan Open and favourable results elsewhere. Zhao Xintong is best placed to overtake him, with Neil Robertson and Wu Yize also within range.
How did O'Sullivan and Murphy fare?
Seven-time world champion O'Sullivan trailed Jackson Page of Wales 2-0 before storming back to win six frames in a row, sealing a 6-2 victory with breaks of 64, 70, 96, 93 and 100. The Rocket, a China Open champion in 1999 and 2000, will meet Saengkham next.
Murphy produced one of the standout individual performances of the tournament, thrashing fellow Englishman Matthew Selt 6-0 while rewriting the record books. He compiled breaks of 18, 61, 132, 103, 139, 113 and 41 across the match, then played safety to complete a total of 607 unanswered points before Selt finally potted a ball — surpassing the previous record of 556 set by O'Sullivan during a 6-0 win over Ricky Walden at the 2014 Masters.
"I can't believe it, I'm over the moon."
"I knew I was close - at the interval I didn't want to go looking on any websites to check what the record was. If you find yourself in the bubble and in the flow, you just want to stay in it."
"It was a delight to play for a great crowd out there and put on a good show. I haven't set that many records throughout my career and I am sure someone will go out and beat this one at some stage. But to be part of snooker history in this way is a great thrill."
Murphy, who turns 44 on Monday, also equalled the record for most consecutive centuries with four — a feat he has now achieved twice, joining Northern Ireland's Mark Allen and Australia's Neil Robertson as the only players to do so. His day nearly reached even greater heights in frame five, when he was on course for a maximum 147 break before missing the 15th black and settling for 113.
How does this fit into Murphy's recent form?
Murphy's record-breaking display follows a difficult run in major finals against Chinese opposition. He lost 18-17 to Wu Yize in the World Championship final in May and was beaten in a deciding frame by the same player in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters at the end of July. Earlier in the season, as our coverage of the World Championship noted, Murphy had thrashed Xiao Guodong 13-3 to reach the quarter-finals, before ultimately falling short against Wu at the Crucible, where Wu had earlier led 10-7 on his way to becoming the second-youngest Crucible champion and back-to-back Chinese winner.
Who else has been affected by first-round upsets?
Trump was not the only seeded casualty in Taiyuan. Barry Hawkins lost to Liu Hongyu, Mark Williams was beaten by Zhou Yuelong, and Ding Junhui was thrashed 6-1 by David Gilbert on Saturday, 8 August 2026.
What happens next?
The winner of the China Open will collect £250,000, with the runner-up receiving £100,000. O'Sullivan is due to face Saengkham in round two, while Trump's immediate focus shifts to the Wuhan Open, where he must win the title and hope for slipping results from his rivals to retain his world number one ranking before the end of the month.
