TEHRAN - The snooker week began with some big surprises in China’s Nanjing, as two former World Champions lost their 3rd round International Championship matches to be forced on long trips home.
First, it was Mark Selby’s time to feel the pain at the hands of Hussein Vafaei. Fondly called the “Prince of Persia” the world number 32 seemed to get the better of Selby as early as the 4th frame, which gave Iran’s top snooker star a 3-1 lead.
Usually a tight-frame specialist, Selby was forced to concede Vafaei better this time out, as he took a 62-59 victory. After that loss the Englishman failed to convert a single point in the following two frames.
A fantastic break of 136 to narrow the deficit will mean little to Selby, as Vafaei wrapped things up 6-3 in the following frame. Big breaks have seemed to have become a bit of a theme at the International Championship, as in just the 1st frame of the day Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a maximum break of 147 against Mark Williams. 
The later morning games brought another surprise victor over a world champion, as 2010 king Neil Robertson was toppled by a rookie. 
18-year old Wang Xinbo had the shortly staffed home crowd behind him, and playing like here more often will see his world ranking of 86 soar. 
Xinbo already toppled Jak Jones in Nanjing’s last round of play.
The 2026 International Championship is a professional snooker tournament that is taking place from Oct. 31 to Nov. 7 at the South New City National Fitness Center (SNCNFC) in Nanjing, China.