World Grand Prix 2026: Ronnie O’Sullivan loses in the second round to Xiao Guodong

Meanwhile, Chinese world champion Zhao Xintong won 5-4 after a close match against Mark Selby.

England’s Selby, a four-time world champion, overcame breaks in the 90th, 109th, 73rd and 56th minutes on his way to a 4-1 lead.

However, Chow fought back with sets of 81, 140 and 112 to level the score, then took the deciding set to set up a quarter-final clash against Chris Wakelin, who beat Elliott Slessor 5-4.

“Mark played very well until the score was 4-1,” Zhao said. “In the last few frames, I thought that if I lose, I should lose like a world champion.

“But I can’t believe I won the last four frames. It was very important for me, I’m very proud of myself and I hope I can improve. I like playing with legendary players because it’s a chance to prove that I’m strong.”

Barry Hawkins, the 2017 champion, also lost in the second round, 5-3, to Zhang Anda.

Although Hawkins equalized at 3-3 after trailing 3-1, Zhang responded with breaks of 82 and 97 to complete the victory and will play Wu Yizi, who beat Zhang Bingyu 5-3, in the quarter-finals.

The other confrontation in the quarter-finals will be between Ali Carter, who beat Yuan Sijun 5-2, and Zhou Yuelong, who beat Jack Jones 5-1.

There are six Chinese players in the quarterfinals, a new record for the ranking event. The previous record was five in the 2022 Championship.