Zhao Xintong said that he “probably didn’t deserve to win” after losing 6-5 on a respotted black to Zhang Anda at the China Open on Tuesday.
Zhao had been the pre-tournament favourite but struggled to hit anywhere near his top form in Taiyuan.
The 2025 world champion compiled three half-century breaks to win the opening three frames, but back came Zhang with contributions of 134, 88, and 81 to lead 5-4.
Zhao managed to force a deciding frame that engrossed the big crowd, but it was his opponent who advanced instead after sinking the respotted black.
“I made far too many mistakes today, and I probably didn’t deserve to win,” Zhao said, as reported by the World Snooker Tour.
“I had a lot of chances in the last two frames. People might think that I play quite aggressively, but I actually think I’m quite conservative now.”
“There are a lot of shots that I don’t go for as I used to, and that is also part of the process of improving.
“I had prepared well for coming to Shanxi this time, and I didn’t expect to lose in the first round. I played too badly, and there was nothing I could do about it.”
Defeat for Zhao in the first round means that he will collect zero ranking points, damaging his chances of becoming world number one for the first time.
Judd Trump is guaranteed to end this tournament in top spot, but Zhao, Neil Robertson, and Wu Yize each have a realistic opportunity to replace the Englishman by the end of the upcoming Wuhan Open.
With Trump also out, a lot will depend on how far Robertson and Wu will go this week – especially with a lucrative top prize worth £250,000 on offer.
For Zhang, meanwhile, it was a valuable victory for the former International Championship winner as he continues his revival back up the rankings and toward the top 16 again.
“I feel very lucky,” Zhang said. “Today, we both didn’t play very well. It was a black-ball game, always 50-50. I think today was just my day.”
Elsewhere on day four, Stuart Bingham edged John Higgins 6-4 in a battle of former world champions while Chris Wakelin ousted Tom Ford by the same scoreline.
Hossein Vafaei enjoyed a bye through to the last 16 following the withdrawal of would-be opponent Mark Allen just before the tournament began.
The second round of the 2026 China Open will commence on Wednesday with the likes of Wu and Ronnie O’Sullivan returning to the fray.
The latter encounters Noppon Saengkham – a 6-3 winner against Judd Trump in round one – while world champion Wu takes on David Gilbert.
The other two games will pit Shaun Murphy against Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yuelong against Liu Hongyu.
Featured photo credit: WST
