A 5-1 defeat to Chang Bingyu in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Wuhan Open means that Judd Trump will lose his world number one ranking.
The Englishman has held top spot on the official two-year list since August in 2024 but entered this week’s ranking event with his status under threat.
Trump wasn’t able to defend the £500,000 that he claimed for victory at the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, with that tournament since scrapped from the calendar.
With that sum deducted from his rolling two-year tally, the 37 year-old dropped to fifth on the provisional standings ahead of the Wuhan Open.
Trump was a winner at the prestigious Shanghai Masters earlier this month, but that event is classified as an invitational and doesn’t reward players with ranking points.
The former world champion subsequently exited in the last 32 of the China Open to Noppon Saengkham before suffering a last-eight reverse to Chang in this week’s event.
For the latter, it’s another indication of the serious potential that the 24 year-old possesses.
Last year’s Scottish Open runner-up has risen into the top 50 in the world rankings, has no ranking points to defend this season, and will likely make a rapid charge toward the top 16.
He compiled breaks of 132, 69, 67, and 58 in dismantling the challenge of his esteemed opponent.
The race to end the 2026 Wuhan Open as the world number one is now down to two players, meanwhile.
Mark Selby could have returned to the summit for the first time since 2022 if he had backed up his victory at the China Open with another success in Wuhan.
The Jester, however, lost 5-3 to Ronnie O’Sullivan, who will instead move forward to the semi-finals to face Chang.
That means that the outcome of Thursday’s clash between Zhao Xintong and Neil Robertson will determine who moves to top spot.
Robertson has previously held the coveted ranking, but the last time was way back in 2015.
If Zhao were to do it, he would become only the 13th world number one in snooker history and the second from China after compatriot Ding Junhui.
Featured photo credit: WST
