Star names deliver on opening day of the 2026 International Championship snooker

It was a hectic first day of action in Nanjing with matches from three different rounds on the programme, and a trio of players playing twice.

During the morning session, Mark Selby defeated the evergreen Jimmy White in all-legend clash, whilst there were victories for home hero Ding Junhui, and Neil Robertson in the afternoon.

A bumper evening of play at the SNC National Fitness Centre saw reigning World Champion Wu Yize, world number one Zhao Xintong, and Judd Trump all on the schedule.

The last time Wu featured on the World Snooker Tour was nearly four weeks ago when he lifted the Shenzhen Open trophy - his first title since his Crucible triumph in early May.

And the 23-year-old picked up where he left off, whitewashing Hammad Miah, 6-0, with breaks of 69, 129, 93 and 82.

Wu is defending a professional title for the first time having claimed his maiden top-flight crown here last year after defeating John Higgins, 10-6, in the final. Next up for him is a meeting with Robbie Williams on Sunday in the last 64.

Zhao Xintong ends losing streak

Last year’s World Champion Zhao registered his first win on the circuit in over eight weeks as he dispatched Ian Burns, 6-1.

A semi-finalist in this event last year - where he lost 9-6 to eventual title winner Wu - Zhao established a 2-0 lead after runs of 52 and 131 before Burns opened his account in style with a 102.

However, Zhao strung together the next four frames with efforts of 53, 74, 59 and 128 to progress in the £825,000 world ranking event.

Zhao had lost his opening match in each of the last three competitions: the English Open, Shenzhen Open, Northern Ireland Open. He'll play former World Seniors Snooker Champion David Lilley in the next round.

Jackson Page produced a bit of a scoring clinic in ending the challenge of teenager Michal Szubarczyk.

The 25-year-old Welshman crafted a hat-trick of centuries (117, 104, 103) and further contributions of 50, 79 and 89 in a 6-2 win.

Double duty for three players at International Championship

Poland's Szubarczyk - who at 15-years-old is the youngest professional player on the World Snooker Tour - was one of three cueists who won a preliminary round match against a Chinese amateur wildcard during the morning session.

But Szubarczyk, Steven Hallworth and Liu Wenwei - the other two prelim victors - all had to return to the table just a few hours later to compete in round one proper where they exited the event.

Hallworth was defeated 6-1 by Fan Zhengyi, whilst Liu was eliminated by Trump, 6-3.

Winner of this International Championship accolade in its inaugural year of 2012, and then again in 2019, Trump was 2-1 down early on, but took five of the next six frames, highlighted by runs of 143 and 101. That 143 is currently the highest break of the tournament, putting Trump in pole position for a £5,000 bonus prize.

From 3-1 down to David Grace, Si Jiahui went on a scoring blitz with runs of 50, 101, 131 and 82 across the next four frames before later securing a 6-4 win.

In-form Jak Jones sent packing by Chinese rookie

The biggest upset of the day went the way of Chinese teenager Wang Xinbo who dismissed Jak Jones, 6-3.

Playing in his maiden season as a professional, 18-year-old Wang already knocked out David Gilbert in qualifying for this tournament a few weeks ago, and now has the scalp of another ranking event winner in Jones.

Jones has enjoyed a career-changing season during which he claimed his first pro title at the Championship League Ranking Event and got his second just weeks later at the British Open. Only last weekend he was in the final of the Northern Ireland Open, but will play no further part this year in Nanjing.

On Sunday, the remaining round of 64 fixtures are set to be completed.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 International Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.