Neil Robertson beat Ronnie O'Sullivan

Snooker results: Neil Robertson beats Ronnie O'Sullivan at the Players Championship

By Sporting Life

Snooker

Fri February 11, 2022 · 4y ago

Neil Robertson battled past Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 to book his place in the semi-finals of the Players Championship in Wolverhampton.

In a repeat of the 2019 final, which the Rocket won 10-4 with his 1000th career century, the Thunder from Down Under took firm control when racing into a 4-1 lead thanks to impressive breaks of 79, 52, 82 and 80.

O'Sullivan had fired in a match high 98 in frame two and threatened a comeback when a fluked red paved the way for a fine clearance of 90 before further reducing the deficit to 4-3 with a break of 50.

The quality dropped in the next two frames, with Robertson scrapping them both to advance and keep alive his hopes of a 22nd career ranking title and a second of the season.

The Australian has recaptured the form that helped him win the Masters, where he also beat O'Sullivan, but his preparations had been far from ideal having tested positive for Covid-19 upon his return home from the German Masters.

Robertson told World Snooker: "In the past I remember having little leads against him and I started to be more cautious and defensive, waiting for him to make mistakes. You can’t do that, you need to maintain a positive frame of mind and be the aggressor. That is the way I want to always play the game and I think that was what kept the pressure applied to him.

"You have to deal with the crowd when you play Ronnie. If you aren’t able to deal with it then you aren’t going to be successful and winning tournaments every season. The likelihood is that you are going to need to beat Ronnie along the way at some point. It can be really tough for some players and even me. You definitely notice it when you make a mistake and the crowd cheer him. He has earned that over the years and you just have to respect that.

"Jimmy will be the underdog in the semi-finals if he gets through, but he will be feeling really good and thinking anything is a bonus. I am very experienced playing against underdogs though. I am also used to the scenario of playing someone like John, where it is 50/50 and down to who plays best on the day."