Resilient Aussie Robertson makes World Grand Prix final
Neil Robertson has produced his second steely comeback in two days to book a place in snooker’s lucrative World Grand Prix final in Hong Kong.
Australia’s resurgent cueman fought back from two down, reeling off all three of the final frames to win his battle of veteran ex-world champs with Shaun Murphy in Saturday’s semi-final, 6-5.
It was a huge victory for the 43-year-old Melburnian, who may now well have sealed his place at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre to play in next month’s world championships, a year after the 2010 champ missed out on the big event for the first time in 20 years.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Robertson’s now up 13th in the provisional Crucible seedings, needing to be in the top-16, and will be on a high if he wins Sunday’s final against England’s Stuart Bingham, another former world champ, who defeated world No.1 Judd Trump 6-3 in the other semi.
The winner of the first-to-10-frames showdown will receive a cheque of £180,000 ($A370,000) in the first ranking event to be staged in Hong Kong for 35 years.
Three 100-plus breaks were enough to help “the Thunder from Down Under” Robertson past his old 42-year-old rival, “the Magician” Murphy, who had beaten the Aussie on his way to the Masters crown in London in January.
Robertson, who’d fired in 114 and 104 breaks to open an early 2-0 lead, was pegged back by Murphy’s inspirational form after the interval as the Englishman moved just one frame from victory.
But just as against China’s Xiao Guodong in Friday’s quarter-final when Robertson reeled off four frames in a row to fight back from 3-1 down, he dominated the next two frames.
Then in the decider, he nervelessly sank a long red to set up a brilliant run of 114 and move in sight of a second title of the season following his English Open win in September. Murphy never even potted a ball in those last three frames.
“It was an unbelievable shot to create the match-winning visit,” said Robertson of his long pot.
“Full compliments to Shaun ... there wasn’t anything he could do about that red I potted in the last frame.
“It was a brilliant match. I started well, missed a couple of difficult pots, but other than that I didn’t do too much wrong.”
