Shaun

World number one Judd Trump lost to Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham, while Shaun Murphy set a new scoring record and Ronnie O’Sullivan made a winning start to his campaign on day two of the China Open.

Trump could lose his world number one ranking before the end of the month after a 6-3 loss to Saengkham, ranked 45th in the world.

In round two, the Thai player will face seven-time world champion O’Sullivan, who made a century break and four further breaks over 60 as he recovered from losing the opening two frames to beat Wales’ Jackson Page 6-2.

The China Open is the first main ranking tournament of the 2026-27 season and former world champion Murphy made some snooker history in his 6-0 victory over fellow Englishman Matthew Selt.

Murphy, who lost 18-17 in the World Championship final to China’s Wu Yize in May, made breaks of 18, 61, 132, 103, 139, 113 and 41 in frame six, before playing safe for a record total of 607 unanswered points before Selt potted a ball.

His tally surpassed the previous record of 556, set by O’Sullivan during a 6-0 win over Ricky Walden at the 2014 Masters.

Murphy, who turns 44 on Monday, told the World Snooker Tour (WST) website: “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.”

As well as setting a new record for most points without reply, Murphy also equalled the record for the most consecutive centuries with four, something he has now done twice. Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen and Australia’s Neil Robertson are the others to have achieved that feat.

Murphy’s incredible day could have got better in frame five as he was on course for a maximum 147, only for the run to end at 113 as he missed the 15th black.

EXCLUSIVE: The Chase star shared his Achilles’ Heel after backlash to a wrong answer ahead of a new spin-off, The Chase Around The World.

The Chase star Shaun Wallace has confessed the “worst mistake” he made on the show.

The ITV personality has returned to screens with his co-stars including Anne Hegerty and The Chase host Bradley Walsh for a new spin-off series.

Once again, he’s putting quiz fanatics to the test but this time, it’s all around Europe.

The Chase Around The World sees six teams racing across European landmarks in a bid to win £100,000 prize.

Shaun described the spin-off as “reality television meeting with a quiz” as he admitted everyone “is pushed out of their comfort zone”.

Ahead of the series airing, The Dark Destroyer recalled one of his worst quizzing moments, as he revealed some topics he knows nothing about.

He shared: “As I always say, it takes courage to be a contestant on a quiz. Whether you get one or whether you get seven, it takes courage to put yourself forward, to sit in a chair to be thoroughly examined.”

Speaking to The Mirror and other press, Anne added: “There are times when someone, maybe just one person, gets through to the final Chase, and they set five or something, and if it’s me, the first thing I’ll say when I come out is, ‘Look, you’re the one that got through, everybody else got caught, you didn’t’.”

Recalling his own error, Shaun admitted “Every Achilles has a heel”.

He went on: “I’ve never watched The Simpsons, remember that time they asked me the colour of Marge Simpson’s hair? I said orange. The abuse I got on Twitter would make you want to quit the show.”

Shaun went on to say that like with soaps, he’d just guess an answer, and he was asked another Simpsons question where he had no choice but to do the same thing.

“They then asked me, who is the eldest Simpsons child, for £50,000?” he said.

He went on: “I know there’s three, Maggie, Lisa and Bart, and it took me six seconds to work out which one is it.”

Shaun ended up saying it was Lisa, and losing the huge sum. He added: “Questions are only easy if you know the answer, so one thing about us as quizzers is we’re brilliant quizzers, but we’re human, we make mistakes.”

Shaun, who won Mastermind in 2004 before The Chase, continued: “I use my transferable skills as a barrister, I think on my feet, I’m fearless. I’ve appeared in the Court of Appeal, I’ve done Old Bailey trials, so to answer the question in the final Chase or Mastermind grand finals is not going to phase me, but the one thing which has stood me well is my steadfast dedication to preparation because the more you prepare, the more chances you can be successful.

“And it’s not a chore… when we’re researching, it might seem like we’re going back to school. No, we’re doing it because we love it.”

The Chase Around The World airs Thursdays at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.