Robertson In Pole Position
Neil Robertson won his first title of the season by beating Jamie Burnett 4-3 in the final of the Gdynia Open in Poland, part of the European Tour series.
Australia’s Robertson clearly enjoys playing in Poland as he has won the only two professional events to be staged in the country, having triumphed at the Warsaw Classic last season.
Victory for the Australian is worth 12,000 Euros plus 2,000 ranking points and a guaranteed place in the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals next March. World No 8 Robertson reached the final of that event last season but lost to Stephen Lee – the only time he has ever come off second best in a televised final.
Masters champion Robertson had a slow start to the season but showed signs of his best form at the Hala Sportowo-Widowiskowa in Gdynia. He appeared to be crusing to victory over World No 39 Burnett when he went 3-0 up with a top break of 118, but his opponennt, who was seeking his first pro title, battled back to 3-3 with a top run of 64.
The decider was a tense affair lasting 52 minutes, and Hamilton’s Burnett had a chance to win it but missed a black off its spot with one red left, trailing by 30 points. Robertson seized his chance to secure the trophy.
“I thought it was going to be an early night, but then at 3-3 I was under pressure because I would have been devastated to lose, so I was just relieved to win in the end,” said 2010 World Champion Robertson.
“I won this tournament last season and went on to win another PTC event and then the Masters, so hopefully again this will be the start of a really good season for me.
“The crowd here was fantastic, the people really love snooker so it’s great to come here and put on some world class snooker.”
The Players Tour Championship is a series of ten events, four in the UK and six on the Betfair European Tour, with the top 25 on the final Order of Merit going through to the Grand Finals in March. They will be joined by seven players from the Asian PTC Order of Merit. The next event is the Antwerp Open in Belgium from October 18-21.
Money
Results
Friday October 5
11am
3) Andy Hicks 0-4 Liang Wenbo
5) Anthony McGill 2-4 Tian Pengfei
1pm
1) Stephen Maguire 4-1 Michael Wasley
14) Mark Joyce 2-4 Jamie Burnett
15) Kurt Maflin 4-2 Kyren Wilson
3pm
4) Dave Harold 1-4 Jimmy White
10) Michael Holt 4-2 Michael White
7) Ben Woollaston 1-4 Martin Gould
5pm
12) Fergal O’Brien 0-4 Mark Selby
2) Joe Perry 4-1 Mark Davis
13) Rory McLeod 4-1 Ken Doherty
8pm
8) Neil Robertson 4-3 Jamie Jones
9) Andrew Higginson 3-4 Stephen Lee
16) Tom Ford 0-4 Graeme Dott
Saturday October 6
11am
11) Ding Junhui 4-3 John Higgins
6) Cao Yupeng v Stuart Bingham (BYE)
1pm
17 Stephen Maguire 4-1 Joe Perry
18 Liang Wenbo 3-4 Jimmy White
3pm
19 Tian Pengfei 4-3 Stuart Bingham
24 Kurt Maflin 4-3 Graeme Dott
23 Rory McLeod 3-4 Jamie Burnett
5pm
20 Martin Gould 3-4 Neil Robertson
21 Stephen Lee 3-4 Michael Holt
8pm
22 Ding Junhui 4-1 Mark Selby
25 Stephen Maguire 4-1 Jimmy White
Sunday October 7
1pm
27 Michael Holt 4-2 Ding Junhui
26 Tian Pengfei 0-4 Neil Robertson
28 Jamie Burnett 4-3 Kurt Maflin
4pm
29 Stephen Maguire 2-4 Neil Robertson
30 Michael Holt 0-4 Jamie Burnett
8pm
Neil Robertson 4-3 Jamie Burnett