Neil Robertson in precarious position as Marco Fu qualifies
World champion Neil Robertson has a lot of work to do if he wants to qualify for the semi-finals in the snooker Premier League.
The world No.1 lost 4-2 to Marco Fu last night, and the result sees the Australian at the bottom of the league. Fu on the other hand became the first player to reach the play-offs as he sits on top of the table with eight points.
The game started well, with Robertson quickly getting into his stride and knocking in a break of 70 to take the first frame after Fu had made a break of 34. Fu levelled the match after grinding out the second frame, and that was to be the pattern of the match, as both players were unable to construct solid breaks together.
With only one win to his name in this year’s Premier League, Robertson couldn’t afford to lose, but that was the way the game was heading for him as he missed the black off the spot for the frame, leaving Fu to pinch it and edge in front.
Fu then pinched an amazing fourth frame by a point to guarantee himself a point for his efforts and book his place in the semi-finals. Fu then collected the two points for the win by making a break of 67 to leave Robertson needing wins in his final two games to have any chance of qualifying. Robertson constructed a 90 in the final frame, but it was too little too late.
“I’m delighted with the result and now I’ve won three and drawn two in my six league matches,” said Fu, who has now completed his round-robin fixtures. “A win is a win but sometimes you don’t play well. Neil didn’t take his chances and I was struggling but took my chances when they came.
“The third was a massive frame. He should have won it but he missed the black and you just have to take advantage of the misses,” Fu added.
Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby played out a 3-3 draw in the other match of the evening, and a point for both players didn’t do them any favours at all in one of the tightest Premier Leagues for some time.
The match lived up to its billing, and both players had cases for taking the win. Reigning Premier League champion Murphy stormed to the first frame, making a break of 80, but the Masters champion Selby hit back with his fifth century of the tournament so far, a 100, to square the tie.
Murphy then took the third frame with breaks of 52 and 58, but Selby took the next two frames, which included a 91 to put him in pole position for the win. The final frame was a tense affair, and it was Selby who had the first opportunity, but he broke down on 56 to allow Murphy a chance to steal a point.
Nearly running for 40 minutes, both players were involved in a tight safety battle, and at one stage a re-shot took a lot of time for the referee to replace the balls, with the players joking around and entertaining the crowd. When play did resume, Murphy kept on snookering Selby and gained a handful of points. Eventually Murphy cleared the colours to take the point.
“It was tough overall and a good game. I was disappointed to lose but Shaun nicked it off me at the end,” said Selby, who is second in the table on five points. “I would have been happy with 3-3 at the start but felt I could have won at 2-2. This is without doubt the toughest league I’ve been involved with and I have a tough one against Ronnie for my last match.”
Murphy is a point behind, and has to play Mark Williams and Robertson in his final two games. “To go 3-2 behind, I can only remember two shots that I was disappointed with and I sat in my chair feeling sorry with myself,” said Murphy. “However, how I performed at the end and scrapped out a point is a part of a game that I have been working on.”
Next week’s games sees Murphy take on China Open champion Williams, and Robertson against the Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Tags: