Neil Robertson vs Dominic Dale: 2011 Australian Goldfields Open – Second round preview
Former World Snooker Champion, Neil Robertson has surged into the second round of 2011 Australian Goldfields Open after ousting Englishman Nigel Bond, by 5-2 in round one. The Aussie will next meet
Welshman, Dominic Dale, in the second round on Wednesday, July 20 at the Bendigo Stadium in Victoria.
Dale began the 2011-12 Snooker Season convincingly, with a comprehensive run in Players Tour Championship (PTC) Event 1 at World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, however, he crashed out in the second
round. The Welshman was placed in fourth round qualifiers of 2011 Australian Goldfields Open where he played Liam Highfield and beat him 5-3, to reach the initial stage of the event.
Dominic Dale entered the event’s initial stages after winning over Liam Highfield 5-3 in 2011 Australian Goldfields Open qualifiers at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. He was due to play the
Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan, in his first round match, but unfortunately O’Sullivan could not take part in the competition because of an injury.
With O’Sullivan out of the Australian tournament, Dale had to play Robertson’s World Cup Snooker teammate, Steve Mifsud. Dale played impressively to beat Mifsud by the score line of 5-2 in round one,
to make it to the Last 16 against Robertson.
On the other hand, the 29-year-old Neil Robertson did not take part in the first PTC event but he did play 2011 World Cup Snooker with his teammate Steve Mifsud. Both Aussies played effectively in
the group stage and stormed into the playoff stage, where they lost to Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens, 4-2.
Robertson was up against England’s Nigel Bond in the initial round of the event, and displaying extraordinary snooker skills, he outplayed the Englishman completely by the scoreline of 5-2. Robertson
fired some superb knocks of 42, 59, 53 and 48 to secure his first round victory.
Robertson spoke to the media after his victory, “This is my first time playing a professional ranking tournament in my country and I'm relieved to get through. I'm very tired and just wanted to get
it over and done with. This match was always going to be tough and it would've been a disaster if all three Australians had gone out in the first two days.”
Head-to-Head
Both Robertson and Dale have gone head-to-head twice in the last season. They faced each other in Star Xin Pai PTC Event 3 and 6. In both clashes, Dale triumphed over the Australian by 4-2 and 4-1
respectively. The odds may differ this time as the Victoria-based cueman, Robertson is in good form and is warmed up after playing in 2011 World Cup Snooker.
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