Neil Robertson (snooker player)
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| Neil Robertson | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | 11 February 1982 | |
| Nationality | Australian | |
| Nickname(s) | 'The Melbourne Machine' | |
| Professional | 1998 – present | |
| Highest ranking | 13 (2006/07) | |
| 2006/07 ranking | 13 | |
| Highest break | 147 (2005) | |
| Best ranking performance | Winner, of the Grand Prix 2006 and the Welsh Open 2007 | |
| Tournament wins | ||
| Ranking events | 2 | |
| Non-ranking events | n/a | |
Neil Robertson (born February 11th, 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who won the 2006 Royal London Watches Grand Prix. Robertson is the first Australian to win a ranking tournament.
He started his snooker career at a young age. Aged just 14, he became the youngest player to make a century break in an Australian ranking event. Then, when he was 17, he reached the third qualifying round of the World Championship.
In July 2003, Robertson won the World Under-21 Snooker Championship in New Zealand. This earned him a vital wildcard spot on the subsequent WPBSA Main Tour, where he is now an established figure.
He first qualified for the final stages of the World Snooker Championship in 2005, losing 10-7 to Stephen Hendry. With Quinten Hann having also qualified, Australia had 2 players in the event for the first time since 1991. In total he won 25 matches in 2004-2005, reaching the final stages of 6 of the 8 tournaments, despite having to play at least 2 qualifying matches for each of those.
In 2005/2006 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 2005/2006 season, including the 2006 World Championships, in which he fought back from 12-8 to 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 get a snooker out of his Scottish rival.
During the snooker season, Neil is based in Cambridge. He practices at Cambridge Snooker Centre with Joe Perry, another professional.
[edit] 2006/2007 season
After finishing top of his group at the 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 Snooker Grand Prix. So he went on to the semi-finals, being only the fourth Australian ever to do so. He beat Alan McManus 6-2 in the semis, to reach his first major final, where he faced Jamie Cope, whom he beat comfortably by 9 frames to 5 to win his first ever senior professional ranking tournament. The win earned Robertson £60,000 (his highest amount of money earned in one tournament) and moved him up to a provisional world ranking of seventh, the highest of his career. Robertson had early exits in both the UK Championship and the Saga Insurance Masters, but found his form again in reaching the final of the Welsh Open 2007. 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 surprise package 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. Victory meant that Robertson became the first player in a number of years to win two ranking events in the same season, while propelling him up to a career high 7th in the provisional rankings, and 1st in the one year rankings.
