Neil Robertson becomes first Australian world champion
Neil Robertson beat Graeme Dott 18-13 to become the first Australian to be crowned snooker world champion, and the first player outside Britain and Ireland to win snooker’s elite prize since Cliff Thorburn from Canada in 1980.
Although Australian Horace Lindrum won it back in 1952, it is not recognised because he and his opponent Clark McConachy were the only players competing.
Robertson has now moved up to No. 2 in the world rankings. Having arrived in England with only £500 to his name, he pocketed a cheque for £250,000. Both players had been playing fast and fluid snooker over the 17 days, but the final was not what everyone expected it to be, with Dott knocking in the only century of the match. Having trailed 5-3 from the first session, Robertson always had the edge over Dott. The frames were long and contained plenty of tension, as both players took a "safety-first" approach.
When called upon to pot the crucial balls and win the frames, it was the Thunder from Down Under who managed to do this better than Dott. A crucial frame to put Robertson 15-12 in front lasted 45 minutes and looked to have taken everything out of Dott. Despite making the score 15-13, another gruelling 48-minute frame went the Australian's way to dispirit the 2006 world champion.
With his mother coming over from Australia to watch the final, Robertson was able to find the strength to cross the winning line. Having been on the verge of a shock exit to qualifier Martin Gould in the last-16, it is an incredible turnaround from the 28-year-old. “This is absolutely incredible. I seriously can't believe it. In my last-16 match I was 11-5 down to Martin and after my [semi-final] match with Ali Carter I was really disappointed I couldn't have any of my family over for the final.
"Then I got a voicemail from my mum to say that when I was 15-9 up overnight against Ali, she had jumped on a plane, so it was quite lucky I finished the job off. My mum and her partner have travelled for ages and they only got two hours sleep before the final, so for them to be here makes it absolutely perfect what is going on right now,” said Robertson.
The match finished five minutes before 1am, which equalled the latest finish to a final, set by John Higgins and Mark Selby in 2007.
Dott’s aim at the beginning of the tournament was to get back into the top 16, and he achieved this by reaching the last four, but he was unable to reach the heights of his semi-final win over Selby, and missed several chances to make the score closer than it was. “He was far and away the better player - how I managed to get 13 frames I don't know. I am obviously disappointed to lose in the final and not really perform. But I needed to get to the semi-finals to get back in the top 16 and I have played really well, so hopefully I will be back for next year,” said the 32-year-old.
It is Robertson’s fifth ranking title of his career, and he has now won every final he has played in. “The match didn't really come down to snooker skills in the end, it was more a case of who wanted it most. It was just a titanic battle. There is one thing for sure I will sleep well tonight. Obviously Australians love Olympic and world champions. It’s not going to sink in for a while, well, maybe after a few vodkas it might though. I seriously cannot believe it. It was such a titanic struggle of a match,” said Robertson.
It is set to get better for Australia’s first champion as he will become a father imminently. “I am due to be a dad very soon, maybe in a day or two so it's going to be a great time for me. It's just the icing on the cake. I did keep thinking that the snooker gods would not let me be a champion and a dad in the same week, but it looks like I will be, it's incredible. I'm sure I will be experiencing a few emotions over the next few days,” Robertson added.
The sport may be in its darkest moments because of the Higgins’ bribe scandal, where the world No.1 stands accused of possible match-fixing, but that won’t stop the left-handed Aussie from celebrating his greatest achievement. “I was very surprised about John on the front page of the papers, but I don't know enough about it to comment really. I just had to focus on the final.
“I didn’t feel it had taken the gloss off the final, because snooker is down the pecking order of sports and this was purely for me to promote the game back home. They will only be looking at the snooker tournament and nothing else. For the boys back home, the drinks are on me, when I get home. My victory here will only be tarnished by other events off the snooker table. If the press want to tarnish my greatest achievement, I have no power over that. You guys can make it as juicy as you like or tone it down, it’s up to you,” said Robertson.
Robertson’s achievement is set to generate greater interest in snooker in Australia, and by going all the way over the 17 days has increased coverage. “It was great to have the final broadcast live back home on Foxtel, that's awesome. For me that has been the problem why snooker has not been that popular back home in Australia, purely because of the lack of coverage. It would have been a big blow if I had lost in the final. I had all that pressure to contend with but hopefully this is the start of something and we can have an event there now,” he said.
After all they now have the champion.
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