World champion Neil Robertson in action in Premier League
Week five of the snooker Premier League sees reigning world champion and world No.1 Neil Robertson taking on Mark Williams, while Mark Selby plays Marco Fu.
Robertson didn’t get off to the best of starts in his first match in the Premier League, losing 4-2 to Selby in a tough encounter. Having just beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in the World Open final, Robertson was unable to keep up the high standard against Selby, despite making decent breaks of 69 and 78.
The Australian will be hoping as world champion he can get off the mark, but it doesn’t get any easier for him from here. A match tomorrow against Williams is followed by games against Ding Junhui, Marco Fu, Shaun Murphy and the Rocket O’Sullivan.
Williams is in form at the moment. The current China Open champion beat Selby on his return to the Premier League for the first time in five years, and played extremely well in the draw with Ding, knocking in breaks of 54, 73 and 49. The quick-fire format suits the Welshman’s game, and Robertson will need to adapt to the 25-second shot clock fast if he wants to take points from this game, and move away from the bottom of the table.
The last time Williams and Robertson played one another, it was in the semi-final of the World Open, where Robertson came from 2-0 down to win in the final frame. Williams was unlucky not to reach the final, and will be on the lookout for revenge against the Thunder from Down Under.
In the night’s other match, surprise package Fu plays reigning Masters champion Selby. Both players are experiencing different Premier League campaigns at the moment. Fu is unbeaten in the two games he has played, winning against reigning Premier League champion Murphy 4-2 and drawing to O’Sullivan in a high-quality battle.
Selby has lost two out of his first three games. He got hammered 4-2 by Ding last week, and was fortunate to even win a frame as it could well have been a whitewash. The Jester from Leicester will draw confidence from the fact he almost made a 147 maximum break in the final frame. The loss to Ding was also disappointing as he beat Robertson the week before. With only two points on the board, he needs to win more games if he is to stand a chance of reaching the play-offs.
Fu and Williams have the chance to overtake Ding at the top of the table if they win their games, and at the halfway point of the Premier League round-robin matches, it is critical at this stage to secure a top-four finish.
Predictions: Robertson 3 Williams 3, Fu 2 Selby 4
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