Thunder Surges To Glasgow Final
Neil Robertson stormed to a 6-3 win over John Higgins to reach the final of the Dafabet Scottish Open in Glasgow.
The Thunder from Down Under put on an electrifying display of break building power to build a crucial lead early on in the match. He’s now made 10 centuries this week, putting him one behind the tally of 11 clocked up last year by inaugural winner of the event Marco Fu.
Robertson goes into tomorrow’s final with China’s Cao Yupeng in the knowledge that regardless of the outcome, he will instantly return to the world’s top 16. He dropped to 20th in the rankings last week in York and as a result will miss next month’s Masters.
The showpiece clash will be the Australian’s first ranking final in over a year, the last being the 2016 Riga Masters where he lifted the title. However, he did win the invitational Hong Kong Masters earlier in this campaign.
Higgins will be disappointed not to cash in on a stunning 5-0 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan yesterday evening to reach the last four. However, it’s another deep run on home turf for the Scot, following last year where he surged all the way to the final before losing out to Fu.
Robertson came charging out of the blocks this evening with breaks of 117, 65, 74 and 134 to go 4-0 ahead at the mid-session interval.
When the players returned the atmosphere in the arena began to build as the home crowd willed Higgins on to force his way back into the tie. The 42-year-old responded by winning three frames on the bounce to pull within one at 4-3.
However, from there the 12-time ranking event winner steadied himself and got over the line with breaks of 56 and 70.
“The way I started in the first four frames was probably the best I have ever played, in terms of who I was against and the occasion,” said the Triple Crown winner.”With the hard work I have put in during the last couple of months I think I have taken my game to a new level. It is just about doing it on a consistent basis in tournaments.
“I don’t think any player looks at my position in the rankings and says that is where I am at now. At the UK Championship it took a huge effort from Mark Joyce to beat me. The game is there and in the last two months it has been fantastic. My long potting has been really good and I think that is the most important thing. I needed to get back to being deadly and clearing when my hand is on the table.
“I thought a a few years ago that Cao Yupeng was going to be the next best Chinese player after Ding. He tried to tweak with a few technical things and fell off the radar. It is good to see him back playing well. He has had a dream week to make a 147 and get to his first final.”
Afterwards Higgins felt that he was outplayed and said he said that Robertson was now a big favourite to lift the title tomorrow.
“The better man won. It really felt like a 6-0 or a 6-1 there. He was dominant and the chances I got were more down to his misses. I got totally outplayed and have to hold my hands up,” said the 29-time ranking winner.”I didn’t get a sniff until 4-0. He was flying around the table with his long potting.”
“Cao has done great this week and it was brilliant for him to make the 147 earlier in the tournament, every credit to him. However, I think Neil will be too strong in the final.”