Shenzhen

Reigning world champion Wu Yize won six consecutive frames to beat Judd Trump 6-1 in the Shenzhen Open semi-finals.

Yize, who will leapfrog Trump in the rankings and move second in the world after the final, bounced back in dramatic fashion after losing the opening frame to set up an all-Chinese final against Yuan Sijun at the Bao’an Sports Centre on Sunday.

Yuan, 26, endured a much more difficult route to his maiden ranking final, battling through 6-5 against Englishman Jimmy Robertson.

World number two Trump, who won the Shanghai Masters in August, had gone into the Shenzhen semi-final in fine form after beating Mark Selby 5-0 in the last eight.

But after clinching the opening frame with a break of 77, the 2019 world champion handed the initiative to his opponent with a string of errors.

Wu, 22, capitalised to avenge a defeat by Trump at the last-four stage in Shanghai earlier this year, making three breaks of 50 or more in a scrappy encounter before clinching victory with a break of 110.

“When I was preparing for the evening match, I saw that Yuan had shed some tears,” Wu told World Snooker Tour.

“I believe it is his first ranking final. Hopefully, we can put on a great match for everyone. Of course, I hope I can take the trophy home, but we will both give it everything we have.”

An emotional Yuan found it much more difficult to get over the winning line, with the lead continually changing hands throughout the best-of-11 encounter before his opponent forced a deciding frame that took 50 minutes to complete and saw a total of 177 points scored.

Robertson put Yuan in a difficult snooker on the final red and clawed back 41 penalty points before himself being put in a snooker, with Yuan finally clearing to the pink to earn his place in the final of the inaugural event.

“I feel that my first ranking final has come a little bit late,” said Yuan, who started the tournament as the world number 33 but will move to the cusp of the top 16 with victory on Sunday.

“Since the pandemic in 2020, the years in between have been quite difficult, and I feel it hasn’t been easy. So after all these years, I just hope I can give myself something to show for it.”

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, world number one Zhao Xintong and defending champion Mark Williams were knocked out on the opening day of the Shenzhen Open.

China’s Jiang Jun, who is 64th in the world rankings, took the opening two frames before England’s O’Sullivan levelled with breaks of 92 and 52.

Jiang reeled off the next three frames, sealing a famous 5-2 second-round win with a superb break of 108 to set up a meeting with Englishman Zak Surety.

Scott Donaldson stunned 2025 world champion Zhao by winning a final-frame decider.

Scotland’s Donaldson, who is 65 places below Zhao in the rankings, compiled breaks of 77, 105, 50 and 62 as he came from 3-2 down.

Donaldson will take on China’s Pang Junxu in round three.

Welshman Williams lost 5-4 to China’s Fan Zhengyi after fouling on the final pink.

England’s Judd Trump cruised to a 5-0 win over China’s Huang Jiahao and goes into the last 16 after Anthony McGill, his scheduled third-round opponent, withdrew on medical grounds.

In Monday’s other second-round encounters, Australia’s Neil Robertson beat China’s Liu Hongyu 5-2, England’s Chris Wakelin claimed a 5-3 win over Welshman Liam Davies and China’s Si Jiahui swept to a 5-1 success against England’s Oliver Lines.

Belgium’s Ben Mertens also progressed as Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen withdrew for personal reasons.

Wales’ Jamie Clarke, England’s Andrew Higginson, Hong Kong’s Marco Fu and England’s Sam Craigie progressed in the first-round matches that took place on Monday.