Robertson Stunned By Hugill

Neil Robertson’s golden streak of form was brought to an end in the first round of the 918.com German Masters qualifiers as he suffered a shock 5-1 defeat against amateur Ashley Hugill.

Results

Robertson has won the Champion of Champions and UK Championship within the past five weeks, but managed just one break over 40 against York’s 21-year-old Hugill, who needs one more win to reach the final stages in Berlin.

World number three Robertson made a 103 in the second frame but otherwise was outplayed, his opponent knocking in runs of 56 and 85. Hugill had only previously won one match in a ranking event, against Zhang Yong at the Australian Goldfields Open qualifiers earlier this season. He now meets another promising amateur, Zhao Xintong, who beat Cao Yupeng 5-3 in a Chinese derby with top breaks of 107 and 130.

“It’s unbelievable. My brain is in meltdown,” said Hugill. “I can’t even think straight. I am really thrilled. Obviously, top class players – even when they aren’t playing well – are still favourites to beat me. He was playing badly and I started playing okay.

“I was just trying to stay as calm as possible. I came here thinking I could win. I go into every much thinking that but, most of the time, it doesn’t pan out like that. This is a really good opportunity to go to Germany which, around the tour, many players think is one of the best venues in snooker.”

Shaun Murphy beat Michael Wasley 5-3 while world number 12 Ricky Walden lost 5-3 to Alfie Burden.

Mark Williams, who won the inaugural German Masters in 2011, beat Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 5-1 with a top break of 76.