World number one Judd Trump suffered a surprise defeat in the second round of the Xi’an Grand Prix as he fell 5-4 to Matthew Stevens in China.
From 3-1 behind against 2019 world champion Trump, Welshman Stevens won the next three frames to take a 4-3 lead.
Trump was trailing by 38 points with 27 left on the table in the eighth frame but earned a decider by forcing a foul on the blue and then on the pink before clearing up and sinking the respotted black.
Both players had opportunities to win the decider, but 47-year-old former Masters and UK Championship winner Stevens, now ranked 51st, held his nerve to book a spot in the last 16 against China’s Lyu Haotian.
Englishman Trump, 36, had a 147 in his opening match this week but has struggled for consistent form in the early months of the 2025-26 season.
His exit in China means he has yet to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event since the World Championship, when he lost to eventual runner-up Mark Williams in the semi-finals in early May.
Trump’s last tournament victory came at the UK Championship in York in December 2024.
Ronnie O’Sullivan breezed into the last 32 courtesy of a 5-1 win against Yao Pengcheng.
Seven-time world champion O’Sullivan, playing his first tournament since losing in the Saudi Arabia Masters final in August, has shown no signs of rust.
The 49-year-old Englishman began with a break of 63 in the opening frame and followed with a fine 128 to take control.
China’s Yao struck back with a 55 in the third frame, but the world number 118 was soon back in his seat.
O’Sullivan asserted his authority as breaks of 53 and 54 helped to set up a meeting with Scotland’s Stephen Maguire.
