Luca Brecel suffers nightmare defeat in whitewash loss to Stuart Bingham at China Open as Jack Lisowski loses to Chang Bingyu
By Desmond Kane
Updated 15/06/2026 at 12:15 GMT+1
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Luca Brecel has made a nightmare start to the new snooker season after suffering a 6-0 defeat to Stuart Bingham in failing to qualify for the China Open.
Watch extraordinary moment Brecel quits mid-match at Xi'an Grand Prix
Video credit: TNT Sports
The 2023 world champion has dropped to a lowly 44th in the latest rankings after becoming Belgium's first world champion with an epic 18-15 win over Mark Selby when he rose to a career-high of world No. 2.
But he will be taking no further part in the China Open, with 2015 Crucible winner Bingham producing breaks of 56, 104 and 68 at Leicester's Mattioli Arena to secure his trip to the final stage of the newly restored ranking event in Taiyuan.
Of course, it is early in the new campaign, but Brecel, who defeated Jamie Clarke 6-5 in the third qualifying round, has a provisional end-of-season ranking of 65th.
'The Belgian Bullet' - whose best outing was a run to the English Open quarter-finals last season - would benefit greatly from finding some form to avoid being sucked into a taut battle to keep his World Snooker Tour card.
He is due to return to Leicester for the third round of qualifying for the Wuhan Open on Tuesday, and a match with Steven Hallworth or new women's world champion Panchaya Channoi at 14:30.
The China Open is a ranking event last won by Neil Robertson when it was last held in 2019.
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Former champion Brecel beaten in World Championship qualifying
Video credit: TNT Sports
There was also a dominant win for Hossein Vafaei, who completed a 6-1 dismissal of David Lilley, boosted by runs of 126 and 132.
Elsewhere, Anthony McGill completed a 6-2 win over Joe O'Connor, while Noppon Saengkham dismantled Elliot Slessor 6-1.
Jack Lisowski is also out of the running after losing 6-1 to a high-scoring Chang Bingyu, who rolled in breaks of 132, 83, 79, 78, 69, 58 and 51 to ease through.
Meanwhile, Tom Ford hit back from trailing Liam Highfield 5-0 and 53-0 behind to complete an epic 6-5 victory, while Aaron Hill recovered a 4-0 deficit to stun Gary Wilson 6-5.
Ford rolled in efforts of 100, 101, 52 and 94 before winning the decider on the final black.
Meanwhile, Matthew Selt edged Ali Carter 6-5 with Jackson Page running out a 6-3 winner against Yuan Sijun.
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The China Open has returned to the main circuit after a seven-year absence, with four qualifying rounds being staged in Leicester between June 10-14.
The winner will earn a first prize of £250,000.
The tournament is live on TNT Sports and HBO Max between August 8-16.
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