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Neil Robertson

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This article is about a snooker player. For other uses, see Neil Robertson.
Neil Robertson
NicknameThe Thunder from Down-Under[1]
Professional1998–[2]
Highest ranking
  1. 7 (2007/08)
Current ranking 18 (as of 11 November 2024)
Century breaks960 (as of 11 November 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking4

Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian professional snooker player who has won four ranking titles.[2] Robertson is the first Australian to win a ranking tournament, and was the only player to win two ranking tournaments in the 2006/2007 season. Robertson had a difficult 2007/2008 season, but achieved more in 2008/2009. He exceeded expectations in the 2009 World Championship by reaching the semi finals.[4]

Life and career

Early career

Robertson began his snooker career at a young age of 14, with this he became the youngest player to make a century break in an Australian ranking event.[5] Then, when he was 17 years old, he reached the third qualifying round of the 1999 World Championship.

In July 2003, Robertson won the World Under-21 Snooker Championship in New Zealand.[5] This earned him a vital wildcard spot on the subsequent WPBSA Main Tour, where he is now an established figure. In 2003 he won the qualifying tournament for a wildcard place at the 2004 Masters, where he subsequently lost 6-2 to Jimmy White in the first round. Commentator John Virgo has recalled that Robertson already showed strong potting skills, but his game was limited in areas such as break-building and safety.

In 2004/2005 season, he moved up to the top 32 in the rankings, reaching the final stages of 6 of the 8 tournaments, despite having to play at least 2 qualifying matches for each one. He qualified for the final stages of the 2005 World Championship, losing 7-10 to Stephen Hendry in the first round.

In the 2005/2006 season, he continued to progress, moving up to the top 16 of the rankings at the end of the season. He reached 4 quarter-finals in the season, including the 2006 World Championships, in which he fought back from 8-12 down to level at 12-12 against eventual champion Graeme Dott, before losing the final frame by inadvertently potting the final pink, which he needed on the table in his attempts to snooker the Scotsman.

Breakthrough : first ranking title

He made his breakthrough in the 2006/2007 season. After finishing top of his group at the 2006 Grand Prix's round robin stage (he only lost one match: his opener against Nigel Bond by 3 frames to 2), Robertson then beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-1 in the quarter-finals of the event. So he went on to the semi-finals, being only the fourth Australian ever to do so in a ranking event. He beat Alan McManus 6-2 in the semis, to reach his first major final, where he faced a fellow first-time finalist, the unseeded Jamie Cope, whom he beat comfortably by 9 frames to 5 to win his first ever professional ranking tournament. The win earned Robertson £60,000, his highest amount of money earned in one tournament.

Robertson had early exits in both the UK Championship and the Saga Insurance Masters, but found his form again en route to the final of the Welsh Open. He defeated Stephen Hendry 5-3, making a break of 141 in the last frame, then recovered from 4-3 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-4 in the quarter-finals. He beat Steve Davis 6-3 in the semi-finals, and beat Andrew Higginson 9-8 in the final to take the title. He led 6-2 after the first session, then dropped six frames in a row to come within one frame of defeat, but took the remaining three frames to win the match.

He reached the second round of the 2007 World Championship, losing 13-10 to Ronnie O'Sullivan despite at one stage winning six frames in a row.

Robertson started 2007/2008 season poorly, making early exits in three of the first four ranking events, plus the 2008 Masters and Malta Cup. He did reach the quarter-finals of the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy after wins over Jamie Cope and Ian McCulloch. He finished the season ranked 10th, but outside the top sixteen on the one year list.

Recent years

After a disappointing start to the 2008/2009 season, Robertson reached the final of the Bahrain Championship. He played Matthew Stevens, who had also been struggling for form for the previous few seasons. The match lasted almost 6 hours in total, with the Australian edging it by 9 frames to 7. This result has moved Neil back into the top 16, albeit provisionally. During the 2009 Masters Neil Robertson and opponent Stephen Maguire set a record of 5 consecutive century breaks. Robertson made 2 centurys, and Maguire made 3, with the 3rd sealing a 6-3 win over the Australian. At the 2009 World Championship Robertson defeated Steve Davis, Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire to reach the semi-finals of the World Championship for the first time, before losing to Shaun Murphy 17-14 (after at one stage recovering from 14-7 behind to level at 14-14).

In October 2009, Robertson clinched the 2009 Grand Prix trophy in Glasgow with a 9-4 win over China's Ding Junhui in the final. Robertson's fourth title makes him the most successful player from outside the British Isles in ranking tournaments. [6] This moved him up to third in the Provisional rankings behind Scotland's John Higgins and England's Ronnie O'Sullivan [7]

On 1 April 2010 Robertson made the first official maximum break of his career in his second round match in the 2010 China Open against Peter Ebdon.

At the 2010 World Championship, Robertson defeated Fergal O'Brien 10-5 and Martin Gould 13-12, in first and second round respectively. In the match with Gould, Neil made comebacks by returning in the match after trailing 0-6 and 5-11. In the quarter-finals he defeated Steve Davis 13-5. He now faces Ali Carter in the semi-finals, and leads 6-2 after the first session.

Personal life

During the snooker season, Neil is based in Cambridge, England. He practises at Willie Thorne's Snooker Club with fellow professional Joe Perry.

Tournament wins

Ranking tournaments

Non-ranking

Team events

  • WLBSA World Mixed Doubles Championship (with Reanne Evans) - 2008

Amateur

References

  1. ^ "Neil Robertson". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Official player profile of Neil Robertson". wst.tv. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. "Players" section.
  3. ^ "Neil Robertson". Yahoo! UK. 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Murphy resists Robertson comeback". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  5. ^ a b "Neil Robertson Profile - Official Site". NeilRobertson.net. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  6. ^ "Rampant Robertson sees off Ding". BBC Sport. 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  7. ^ "Robertson Targets Number One Status". WPBSA. Retrieved 2009-10-25.

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