Pro Snooker Blog

Name: Neil Robertson

DOB: February 11th 1982

Nationality: Australian

Turned Pro: 1998

Highest Ranking: #7 (2007/8)

Current Ranking: #9

Highest Break: 141 (2007 China Open)

Career Highlights: 2006 Grand Prix Champion, 2007 Welsh Open Champion, 2008 Bahrain Champion, 2009 World Championship semi-finalist

Website: http://www.neilrobertson.net/

In short

Already the finest player to have come from Australia, the former World Under-21 Champion Neil Robertson still has the potential to add to the three ranking event titles that he has already won during his career.

The first thing that springs to mind when thinking of Neil’s game is inevitably his superb long potting which when he is playing well is right up there with the best in the game at the moment. Having enjoyed such a brilliant season in 2006/7 however, he was then to suffer a difficult period which looked like it might well cost him his place in the top 16.

He did however get things back on track at the 2008 Bahrain Championship when he won his third ranking title and in reaching the semi-finals of the World Championship for the first time at the end of the seasom, it looks like Neil now a genuine contender for silverware once again.

A tribute to the career of Neil Robertson so far

Early career

An impressive junior, Neil was winning tournaments in no time including the Australian U-18’s Championship as a 14 year old. Within two years he had turned professional and made impressive runs in both the World Amateur Championship and the qualifying stage of the professional equivalent.

Rankings rise

Following a spell off the tour however, it was to be the 2003/4 season when Robertson would really begin to establish himself in the professional ranks. Having won the World Amateur Championship in New Zealand to reclaim a spot on the tour, he not only reached his first ranking event quarter-final but also won the Benson & Hedges Championship, earning him a spot in the prestigious Masters tournament. Although he lost his opening match 6-2 to local hero Jimmy White, Robertson had shown enough to suggest that he had serious talent and his performances moved him up to 68th in the world.

Neil in action at the 2009 Masters

The next season was to be even better as he proved to be a real handful in the qualifying stages of events, making it to the final stages of all but two tournaments despite having to win at least two matches at each to do so. Making the World Championship in Sheffield for the first time capped off a strong season and although going down 10-7 to Stephen Hendry, his run helped him to a new high of 28th in the rankings.

2005/6 showed yet more improvement as he recorded his best result to date at the World Championship, losing narrowly to Graeme Dott at the quarter-final stage. Several other good results helped him move into the top 16 for the first time and now that Neil no longer had to qualify for the final stages of events he could really show his talents.

First titles

The big breakthrough came at the 2006 Grand Prix in Aberdeen where having successfully negotiated the new round robin phase, he hammered Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 in his quarter-final stage. Further victories over Alan McManus and Jamie Cope in the final secured his first big title and confirmed his status as one of the sport’s best players that season.

Neil fights back on the way to victory in Wales

He went on to show that this was no fluke as he soon added the 2007 Welsh Open title to his collectionwith a victory over surprise finalist Andrew Higginson in an epic final. Although he was to lose in round two of the World Championship he was now up to a career high ranking of number 7, ensuring that he would avoid the strongest players until the latter stages of events.

Loss of form

The best of Neil from 2007/8

This however did not seem to help as Robertson had a poor 2007/8 season, reaching just one quarter-final at the Northern Ireland Trophy. Provisionally outside the top 16 as a result, his 2008/9 season got off to a poor start with a 5-2 defeat to Preston’s Ian McCulloch, also in Northern Ireland, and it looked like the situation was not going to improve for Neil.

Bahrain Champion

Though the events in Shanghai and the Grand Prix did not go any better, Neil returned to form spectacularly in the inaugural Bahrain Championship in November 2008. Recording wins over Marcus Campbell and Stephen Lee to reach the quarter-finals, he then really upped his game to defeat world number two Stephen Maguire 5-2, before seeing off young Mark Allen 6-4 to reach a third final.

There he faced Matthew Stevens, another player who had been struggling recently and having trailed 7-6, won the last three frames to take the title 9-7 and move back up into the provisional top 16.

Since then he has managed to keep up his improved form, making the semi-finals in the Welsh Open and the quarter-finals of the Masters and at the World Championship in May he managed to make the semi-finals for the first time in his career. Having defeated Steve Davis, Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire to get there however, he ultimately lost out 17-14 to Shaun Murphy in a thrilling match which at one stage he trailed 14-7. Now that he is playing his natural attacking game again, hopefully he will be able to continue his improvement into 2009/10.

Tournament Victories:

Ranking Event wins (3)

Non-Ranking Event wins (1)