Neil Robertson sets sights on the Masters
Reigning world champion Neil Robertson has his eyes on snooker’s most prestigious tournament, the Masters, after his emphatic win over Ronnie O’Sullivan in the World Open final.
The Thunder from Down Under stormed to a 5-1 win over the Rocket to add the World Open to his world championship, and ended the tournament as the world No.1 as well. O’Sullivan had no answer to Robertson’s game in the final last Sunday, as he made it six wins out of six in ranking event finals.
The Masters, which is set to begin in January 2011, is only open to the top-16 players in the world, and although it is not a ranking event, it remains one of the favourites for both the crowd and the players.
Robertson is continuing to build on his most successful year, and wants to add the Masters to his two Grand Prix wins, world championship, Welsh Open, Bahrain Championship and World Open. “The Masters is our biggest invitation tournament so it would be fantastic to follow up the world title by winning it,” he said.
“The players all look forward to it because it doesn’t have the pressure of ranking points but there’s a lot of money and prestige. The crowds are always big and rowdy and I love that atmosphere,” Robertson added.
Robertson lost 6-4 to O’Sullivan in last season’s Masters having been 3-0 in front. He made his Masters debut back in 2004, where he was defeated 6-2 by Wembley hero Jimmy White. “It was great to play Jimmy at his home venue, that was an amazing experience,” Robertson said reflecting on the match.
“It was my first televised match and after that I felt comfortable playing on TV because it couldn’t get more nerve-racking than that. I still watch that match on DVD sometimes and think about how far I have come since then.
“I don’t have a great record at the Masters. I’ve never even got to the semi-finals. I’ve proved that I can play my best at the biggest tournaments now so I want to perform at Wembley this time,” added the Australian.
Expect Robertson to improve on his record in the Masters come next year.
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