Neil Robertson « Pro Snooker Blog

robertson1 Name: Neil Robertson

DOB: February 11th 1982

Nationality: Australian

Turned Pro: 1998

Highest Ranking: #2 (2010/11)

Current Ranking: #2

Highest Break: 147 (2010 China Open)

Career Highlights: 2010 World Champion, 2006 and 2009 Grand Prix Champion, 2007 Welsh Open Champion, 2008 Bahrain Champion

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

In short

Easily the finest player ever to have come from Australia, former World Under-21 Champion Neil Robertson has now added the World Professional Championship to his CV by lifting the trophy in 2010 with an 18-13 victory over Graeme Dott.

The most obvious string to Neil’s bow is unquestionably his superb long potting which is arguably the best in the world at present having taken over from the great Mark Williams in that regard. Another asset that has been noted is also his ability when playing with the cue ball tight to the cushion, indeed he is probably the best that I have seen at this particular shot since 1991 champion John Parrott. Furthermore the quality of his tactical game has also improved beyond recognition since he first joined the professional ranks and but for a tendency to run out of position more than he would like, it would be hard to pinpoint any weaknesses in his game.

Now with a 5-0 winning record in major finals, up to a career high ranking of number two and with the pressure of having not previously won the World Championship now lifted from his shoulders, it will be interesting to see whether Neil can now go on and cement his status as one of the leading players of this particular era.

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 clinches the 2010 World Championship, watched by his proud mother

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.

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.

robertson41

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.

2009/10 – Grand Prix Champion again

Neil got his 2009/10 season off to an inauspicious start as he crashed out of the season-opening Shanghai Masters tournament at the last 32 stage with defeat to Ken Doherty, but he more than made up for this slip up at the Grand Prix in Aberdeen.

There he defeated Gerard Greene before eliminating Doherty and friend Joe Perry to book a semi-final clash with defending champion John Higgins. Not only did this prove to be the match of the tournament but it turned out to one of the best short-format matches that I have ever witnessed and may not be bettered for some time as the pair traded breaks of 114, 90, 66, 60, 71, 130, 128, 84 and 57 amongst others. Despite all of the big breaks the match was ultimately decided in a very scrappy 11th frame which went all the way down to the final black. Though Neil looked to have left it hanging over the green pocket following a failed attempt at a double, the black ran just far enough onto the cushion to leave John with an almost impossible shot which he duly missed and followed with a concession.

Robertson19

Having put in arguably the best performance of his career to date, some wondered what he would have left for the final against Ding Junhui but with a 9-4 victory he comprehensively silenced all of the doubters. As well as scoring heavily, what was most impressive was his safety game which during the second session in particular left Ding with no answers.

Although this result lifted Neil to a career-high of third in the provisional rankings, the remainder of the season up until the World Championship was to be tougher for Neil as he failed to progress beyond the last 16 stage of a ranking event. He did though experience the thrill of recording his first career 147 break at the China Open against Peter Ebdon, earning £20,000 in the process, although he lost the match 5-1.

World Champion!

Having reached the semi-finals of the tournament a year previously, Neil was one of the fancied men coming into the 2010 World Championship and began his campaign with a hard fought 10-5 win against Fergal O’Brien to book his place in the last 16.

His next match however was to provide a genuine scare as coming up against qualifier Martin Gould, the Australian was stunned by an incredible performance by the Pinner Potter which saw him open up an 11-5 lead after the first two sessions, needing just two more frames to send Neil home.

Few gave Neil much of a chance at this stage, indeed he himself has since confessed to having made arrangements to check out of his hotel at that point. During the third and final session however, there was an incredible turn of events which saw Martin struggle with his game from the off, while Neil was looking more fluent and crucially, keeping Martin under pressure and not giving him any easy opportunities to score heavily.

As a result Robertson was able to take each of the four frames prior to the mid-session interval and eventually manage to come through a 13-12 winner, becoming only the second man ever to recover an 11-5 deficit during a best of 25 frames match after Shaun Murphy back in 2007.

From here Neil continued his impressive form with a comfortable 13-5 victory over Steve Davis to reach his second consecutive Crucible semi-final before seeing off 2008 finalist Ali Carter to book a final date with Scotland’s Graeme Dott.

The final was a real battle as both struggled for fluency, but it proved to be the second session which made the difference as Neil won six of the eight frames played to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 9-7 lead overnight. Graeme did not give in but Neil was always able to just about keep his nose in front and eventually pulled away to become the first Australian to lift the World Championship trophy, surpassing the achievements of the great Eddie Charlton. By winning the tournament Neil also ensured that he would finish the season ranked at number two, a new career high.