Robertson wins Group Five in Championship League
Neil Robertson admitted he was a relieved man after advancing into the Winners’ Group of Championship League Snooker at the fourth attempt.
Robertson has competed in three of the four previous groups and lost 3-0 in the Group Four final to Marco Fu at the end of January.
But Robertson, third in the provisional world rankings, made amends by beating Jamie Cope 3-0 in the Group Five final.
It means Australian Robertson now advances to the Winners’ Group where the overall champion will claim a place in Matchroom Sport’s Premier League Snooker competition.
“I’m definitely relieved,” said Robertson. “I was pretty distraught to lose against Marco and I’ve never been so angry after I lost that match.
“You play hard for two days and then in the final against Marco he did nothing wrong and I hardly had a shot.
“This tournament is really cut-throat as only one out of the seven in every group has anything to celebrate by going through to the next phase so I’m relieved I won’t be coming back for the next normal group.
“I’m playing quite well but I don’t think I’ve ever played as much as I have done recently.
“It would mean a great deal to me to be in the Premier League again.
"Last year (where he failed to advance past the first phase) was disappointing even though I had improved on previous years.
“But I think I have a lot to offer the Premier League as I’m an attacking player that people like to watch.”
Seven players compete in each group, firstly over a round-robin league basis with the top four advancing to the semi-finals and winners meeting in the final.
Jamie Cope, together with the two losing semi-finalists – Peter Ebdon and Mark Williams – and Barry Hawkins, who finished fifth in the league, get another chance on Wednesday and Thursday in Group Six, where Stuart Bingham, Joe Swail and Mark Allen set out on their Championship League campaigns.
Dave Harold and Ricky Walden finished in the bottom two places in the league table and are eliminated from the tournament.
Group Six of the Championship will be held on Wednesday, February 10 and Thursday, February 11 at the Crondon Park Golf Club in Stock, Essex.
Robertson now joins Stephen Maguire, John Higgins, Judd Trump and Marco Fu in the Winners’ Group with two more spots still up for grabs for the winners of Groups 6 and 7.
