Robertson Beats O’Sullivan In Immense Saudi Final
Neil Robertson described beating Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-9 to win the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters as the greatest victory of his career after sensational final in Jeddah.
O’Sullivan, who made two 147s in his semi-final on Friday, stormed back from 7-2 to 7-7 tonight and looked on course for perhaps his best ever final comeback. He edged 9-8 ahead and had half-chances for a winning break, but couldn’t reach the line and Robertson made a brilliant 87 clearance in the decider. The night of drama almost matched last year’s inaugural final when Judd Trump beat Mark Williams 10-9 on the last black.
“This surpasses winning the World Championship,” said Robertson after landing the trophy and £500,000 top prize, the biggest pay-day of his career. “I have had to answer a lot of questions like whether I can still beat someone like Ronnie in a final of this magnitude. To beat him here with so much on the line, it’s definitely my best win.”
It’s a 26th ranking title for Australia’s 43-year-old Robertson, bringing him level with Mark Williams in sixth place on the all-time list. And he boosts his tally of majors to seven, having captured the world title in 2010 as well as three UK Championship crowns and two Masters. He climbs to third place in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings and now has a vast lead at the top of the one-year list.
Just 16 months ago, Robertson lost to Jamie Jones in the final qualifying round for the World Championship, which meant he missed out on the Crucible and dropped well outside the top 16. Realising that his career was at a crossroads, he hired renowned sports psychologist Helen Davis and worked more closely with friend Joe Perry. The ‘team’ approach paid dividends as with the right support around him, Robertson was able to rebuild his self-belief and create a more structured approach to practice and tournament preparation.
Last season he won the English Open and World Grand Prix, climbing back into the world’s top eight, and now he has reached an even higher pinnacle. Robertson has regained his stage presence in the arena, playing with authority and backing it up with his renowned long potting and break-building class.
O’Sullivan’s total prize money for this event would have reached a record £680,333 if he had added the top prize to his maximum break bonus, but the 49-year-old came up just short of a 42nd ranking title and 24th major. Snooker’s all-time greatest has restored confidence this week after a season to forget in 2024/25, and fans worldwide will hope to see him compete regularly over the coming months.
Trailing 6-2 after the first session, O’Sullivan had a scoring chance in the opening frame tonight but on 33 ran out of position then over-cut a risky red to a top corner. Robertson took advantage with a break of 97 to go five frames clear, before O’Sullivan pulled one back with a tremendous 139 total clearance, his 11th century of the tournament and 1,300th of his career.
The Englishman then rattled in further runs of 97, 89 and 57 to close to 7-6. In frame 14, Robertson had a chance to regain momentum, but he lost position on 33 then missed a difficult red, and again O’Sullivan took advantage with a break of 80 to square the tie. Having lost five in a row, Robertson made a 75 to edge 8-7 ahead, and had chances in frame 16 but couldn’t take them. It came down to the colours and O’Sullivan laid a fiendish snooker on the brown, and from the chance that followed he converted an excellent mid-range brown, adding blue and pink for 8-8.
A break of 64 put O’Sullivan in charge of frame 17 and he went on to take the lead for the first time. He had an early chance in the 18th but failed to land on a red when splitting the pack on 16, and Robertson rolled a tough red into a centre pocket to initiate a superb run of 101 for 9-9. Again O’Sullivan was among the balls in the decider but was unlucky not to open the pack on 31. He later misjudged a safety to leave Robertson an opening, and he remained calm throughout, including a difficult last red to a baulk corner.
“I can’t explain what this means to me,” said Robertson. “When I was a kid back in Australia there’s no way I could have dreamed of beating Ronnie in a final like this. The way he played from 7-2 down, it was unbelievable, I barely did anything wrong. Then the brown he knocked in to go 8-8 was incredible. He was unlucky in the last two frames, he had two splits which didn’t go his way. I am so grateful just to share the stage with him and to put on a great match for the people in Saudi. The fans here have certainly got their money’s worth in the last two years!
“My son will be watching at home, I was trying to stay calm at the end while he would have been jumping up and down on the couch. (Wife) Mille would have been burying her head in the pillows not able to watch! I am glad that I could be part of something really special.
“It feels great to be back in this position. Coming here last year I was 28th in the world. Hopefully my story will inspire younger generations because you should never give up, you will get ups and downs but it’s not about how far you fall, it’s about how far you bounce.”
O’Sullivan said: “Neil deserved to win, he was the better player. I just tried to hang on to him and make a game of it. I was pleased to do that, he was outplaying me at 7-2. When I came here I would have been happy just to win a couple of matches. I was pleased with my performances.”
Article by WST.
