World champion Wu Yize advanced to the last 16 of the 2026 China Open after edging Yao Pengcheng 6-5 on Saturday in Taiyuan.
The returning ranking event, back on the calendar for the first time since 2019, commenced with Wu among the star names hunting down the lucrative £250,000 top prize.
It had been looking comfortable enough for the 22 year-old when he orchestrated a 5-2 advantage over his fellow Chinese competitor.
Yet Yao fought back in gutsy fashion to force a deciding frame that a relieved Wu eventually took to sneak through to the next round.
“Yao played even better than the opponents I faced at the Shanghai Masters, and I also played a little better in this match,” Wu said, as reported by the WST.
“I felt I was in good competitive shape today. Even from 5-2 up, I didn’t make too many mistakes, but we ended up going into a deciding frame.”
“He put me under a lot of pressure. The level of the Chinese players has improved a lot now.
“Becoming more resilient and harder to beat is something I’ve learned over the past few years.
“I feel like I’ve been gradually improving all the time, but I’ve reached a stage now where it is getting more difficult to improve.
“The coming season will be a big test for my career, and I hope I can continue to improve. Being young is an advantage.
“I still have a lot of time as a young player to develop my game. For me, playing against the very best players also gives me more of a good challenge.”
Wu is among a number of players who could usurp Judd Trump as the world number one in the coming weeks, depending on how results go.
Elsewhere on day one, each of the other top 16 seeds in action all stumbled out of the competition at the first hurdle.
Three-time China Open champion Mark Williams suffered a 6-3 loss to Zhou Yuelong, who fired in a hat-trick of tons in a fine display.
Ding Junhui, who memorably burst onto the snooker scene as a new global star in 2005 with his victory in this event, was thrashed 6-1 by a free-scoring David Gilbert.
Barry Hawkins also exited early following a 6-4 reverse to Liu Hongyu.
Earlier on Saturday, the two matches from the wildcard round took place with Hossein Vafeai and Anthony McGill both comfortably overcoming their respective amateur opposition in Liu Linhao and Wu Shegguang.
For Vafaei, the Iranian advances immediately to the last 16 – benefiting from Mark Allen’s late withdrawal from this week’s tournament.
The 2026 China Open continues on Sunday with four more fixtures from the round of 32.
Judd Trump, the winner at last week’s Shanghai Masters invitational where he beat Kyren Wilson in the final, entertains Noppon Saengkham while Ronnie O’Sullivan meets Jackson Page.
McGill is back in the fray to play Xiao Guodong, with World Championship runner-up Shaun Murphy taking on Matthew Selt.
Featured photo credit: WST
