Neil Robertson believes he can improve his inconsistent record at the Crucible this year, feeling fresher and more confident than ever. The 44-year-old Australian, currently world number three, arrives at the World Snooker Championship after a season that included winning the Saudi Arabia Masters and several deep runs in other events.
Consistency and Freshness
Robertson has reached three semi-finals and a quarter-final this season, despite early exits at the World Grand Prix and Players Championship. He feels he was close to more success, particularly at the Masters, where a slight roll of the cue ball could have changed the outcome. 'The ball rolls on another millimetre and I beat Kyren Wilson 6-4 and then I think I would have taken some stopping in winning another Masters there,' Robertson said.
By choosing to skip some events, Robertson has kept himself fresh for the Crucible. 'I feel really fresh as well. I’ve missed a few events through choice and I’ve missed a couple through illness or whatever. So I feel as though I haven’t got as many miles in the tank as maybe what I had last year where I played in every event because I was trying to rescue my ranking position,' he explained.
Mixed Crucible Record
Despite winning 26 ranking titles and being a top player for nearly two decades, Robertson has only reached one Crucible semi-final since his 2010 world title win and has not made a quarter-final since 2021. Two years ago, he failed to qualify for the main event altogether. Reflecting on his struggles, he told The Independent: 'My weakness here has probably been that I can get drawn into a middle session that doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere, and before I know it the session is taken away from me.'
Attacking Plan
This year, Robertson is adopting a more attacking approach. 'This year the emphasis is going to be very attacking. I’ve got a certain plan about how I’m actually going to be doing that, which is hopefully going to impact a lot of the frames in my favour. I think this is the most confident I’ve been probably ever coming into the World Championship, because I feel as though as a collective we’re in this together, and this is the set plan, and I’m not going to deviate from it,' he said.
Robertson will begin his campaign against Pang Junxu on Wednesday evening, aiming to put his plan into action and finally add to his solitary Crucible title.
