Sunday 26 September 2010

Robbo is king again

Neil Robertson is the undisputed king of snooker right now.

World champion, world number one, and tonight he added the World Open crown to his collection.

In May, he proved he was top dog in the longer form of the game at the Crucible. This week he proved he's the master of the shorter format as well.

The Thunder from Down Under didn't steal all the headlines earlier in the week. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams were busy doing that for him.

Today, he dispatched of them both and again showed one of his greatest attributes is playing himself into a tournament.

The irony of it all, is just like at the Crucible, he only delivered his very best when he was in threat of elimination.

Being just a frame away from defeat against Martin Gould in Sheffield, was when he started showing his worth.

In his semi-final against Williams today he was 2-0 down, and on his way home.

This sparked him into life, and when the pressure was on, he produced his best again. This is the kind of quality that makes champions.

From that point on, he won 7 of his next 8 frames to defeat the Welshmen and hammer Ronnie 5-1 in the final.

And this wasn't just any Ronnie. It was a Ronnie who made the game look easy all week long.

But that's what makes Robertson so special. He's never fazed. He has ultra confidence in his ability, to the point where he makes it happen.

Another reason for the man from Oz to be fronting an extra smile this week is because his victory came when many tipped him to feel the heat of being world champion.

It's no secret in the game that the season after your first Crucible win is by far and away the toughest.

Robertson in theory is laid back enought to deal with it.

Tonight, he proved he can and will cope with it. He is without doubt the man to beat.

As for Ronnie, he showed this week he can still mix it with the big boys. As much as he protests, he played well enough this week to win it. He'll be hurting. But after missing Shanghai, even finishing runner-up here will hand him some valuable ranking points.

There's plenty of positives for The Rocket. The Kind of positives that suggest he could be in line to make a real challenge this season at the UK and World Championships.

Tonight's final concluded a terrific week for the sport. A week that is sure to stay in the game.

Switching to this shorter form of play wasn't universally approved by players and fans alike. But, there won't be too many doubters now.

It was great to wacth from ball one.

And I'm already looking forward to next year already.

The best-of-five shoot-out did give more opportunities for players lower down the rankings enjoy their day in the sun.

Gould made it to his first ranking event quarter-final, Dave Harold enjoyed a 3-0 win against Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins was arguably the best player outside of the the four semi-finalists.

But any arguments this format would dilute the game were dispelled as myth. All four of today's semi-finalists are reigning or fomer world champions. It showed that over however many frames, the best will still always rise to the top.

Glasgow has been a fantastic venue. Cracking stuff!

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