China Open 2026 | Day Four Preview and Order of Play
Higgins play Stuart Bingham in Taiyuan (Credit: Jun QIAN/Alamy Live News)
John Higgins headlines day four of the 2026 China Open, as the first-round action draws to a close in Taiyuan on Tuesday.
The four-time World champion collides with fellow former Crucible king Stuart Bingham in the pick of the matches.
Higgins boasts a dominant 16-3 head-to-head record (excluding the Championship League), though this will be their first clash since the 2020 World Grand Prix.
The Wizard prevailed in their most high-profile encounter, hitting three successive centuries to complete a 10-7 victory in the 2016 China Championship final.
Higgins also came out on top when the players met in the last 32 of this event 20 years ago, scraping a narrow 5-4 win on his way to reaching the final.
The 51-year-old, who won this tournament when it was entitled the China International in 1999, was beaten by Mark Williams in that 2006 final, while he also lost out to Peter Ebdon in the 2009 showpiece.
Higgins will be hoping for better fortunes after suffering a 6-0 whitewash against eventual champion Judd Trump at the Shanghai Masters last time out.
Four-time China Open quarter-finalist Bingham, on the other end, was on the right end of a 6-0 scoreline to secure his place in the final stages, sweeping aside 2023 World champion Luca Brecel.
Meanwhile, Zhao is gearing up for an all-Chinese clash with Zhang Anda, who he beat 10-6 in last season’s World Grand Prix final.
Both players first appeared at the China Open as teenage wildcards well over a decade ago, with a then 15-year-old Zhao defeating two-time ranking finalist Jamie Cope in 2013.
The Cyclone reached the semi-finals at the Shanghai Masters, where he whitewashed Neil Robertson 6-0 before narrowly coming up short against Kyren Wilson.
Zhang, who beat Ross Muir and Daniel Wells to qualify, has already assured his best performance at the China Open, having never previously reached the round of 32.
The day’s other game is an all-Midlands battle between Chris Wakelin and Tom Ford.
Scottish Open champion Wakelin is aiming to reach the last 16 of this event for the very first time, but he has lost all six of his previous meetings with Ford.
The former Shoot Out winner endured a difficult 2025-26 season, during which he battled a shoulder injury for large periods.
Nevertheless, Ford demonstrated tough battling qualities during the final qualifying round for this tournament, fighting back from 5-3 down to beat Liam Highfield 6-5 on the black.
Play gets under way at 7am BST (2pm local time) on Tuesday with all matches contested over the best of 11 frames at the Riverside Sports Centre in Taiyuan.
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China Open 2026 Schedule of Play
All times BST (local time +7 hours)
Tuesday August 11
Round One
7am
John Higgins v Stuart Bingham
12.30pm
Chris Wakelin v Tom Ford
Zhao Xintong v Zhang Anda