Neil Robertson with work to do in the Premier League
Reigning world champion Neil Robertson has a lot of catching up to do in the snooker Premier League as he looks to get off the bottom of the table in week six against Ding Junhui.
Having only played two games so far in the round-robin phase, Robertson has yet to win a match, losing to Mark Selby in his first game and drawing last week with Mark Williams.
Just days after his World Open triumph against Ronnie O’Sullivan, Robertson looked to be feeling the effects against Selby, but he returned to his normal self against Williams, trailing throughout but showing the qualities of a world champion to grab a point.
Tomorrow night, Robertson plays the current UK champion Ding, who is second in the table at the moment having played four times, winning once, drawing twice and losing once. Ding’s last Premier League outing was a 4-2 win over Selby, which could easily have been a 6-0 whitewash. Ding was too hot to handle for Selby, as he knocked in breaks of 54, 69, 78, 69 and 103. Another win for Ding will almost guarantee his place in the semi-finals, as he is tied on four points with table-topper Selby and Williams and will only have one game left to play.
As he has only played twice, Robertson will be in action in four of the last five weeks. The Australian cannot afford to lose and he has tough encounters lying ahead, with matches against Marco Fu, O’Sullivan and Premier League champion Shaun Murphy still to come.
The second game of the night pits the China Open champion Williams against Fu, who has been the dark horse in the competition so far. Fu has played three times and has filled all the columns, with one win, one defeat and one draw. He rattled Murphy in his 4-2 win and played a high-quality draw against O’Sullivan, but he was powerless against Selby last week, losing 5-1 and for the first time in the group phase being out-played.
Williams is one of two players still unbeaten in the Premier League, the other being O’Sullivan. The Welshman has one win and two draws, but both of his draws could and should have been wins. He led three times against Robertson last week, and surrendered a 2-0 and 3-2 lead to Ding in the third week.
Williams is making his return to the Premier League after a five-year absence, and is playing close to the form that propelled him to two world championships and 17-ranking titles. His return to form has also moved him to fifth in the world rankings, and he is no doubt a serious threat to winning this year’s Premier League.
Predictions: Robertson 4 Ding 2, Williams 4 Fu 2
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