Robertson Whitewashes Bingham for Hong Kong Crown
Neil Robertson claimed the 25th ranking title of his career following a devastating 10-0 win over Stuart Bingham in the World Grand Prix final in Hong Kong.
It’s the fourth time that a player has scored a whitewash victory in a two-session ranking final. Steve Davis and Zhao Xintong also achieved the feat, while Robertson defeated Zhou Yuelong 9-0 in the European Masters final back in 2020.
Australia’s 43-year-old Robertson now goes ahead of Mark Selby’s ranking title tally of 24, to move into seventh position on the all-time list.
Robertson defeated Yuan Sijun, David Gilbert and Xiao Guodong to make yesterday’s semi-finals, where he dramatically came back from 5-3 down to beat Shaun Murphy 6-5. Few would have predicted the one-sided nature of today’s encounter.
Victory for the Melbourne cueman sees him scoop an event record £180,000 top prize in the first ranking tournament to be staged in Hong Kong for 36 years.
Robertson shoots up from 19th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings to 11th, meaning he will avoid the qualifying rounds for the World Championship and earn a seeded place at the Crucible.
He goes to third in the Johnstone’s Paint One Year list ahead of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship, where just the top 16 players of the current campaign qualify. Robertson is also assured to be in the top 12 at the cut off for the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship.
Hong Kong is a happy hunting ground for the Thunder from Down Under. He defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final to lift the trophy at the invitational Hong Kong Masters back in 2017 and made the semis of the same event in 2022.
The heavy defeat will be a sore one for 2015 Crucible king Bingham, but he can take solace in a first ranking final for six years. The last time he graced a title match in a ranking event was the 2019 Gibraltar Open, where he defeated Ryan Day to capture the trophy.
An imperious afternoon of snooker from Robertson saw him come into this evening with an 8-0 advantage, requiring just two more frames for victory.
England’s Bingham seized the early initiative in the first frame of the night, leading 53-6. However, 2010 World Champion Robertson battled back and the frame came down to the brown. Bingham eventually spurned a chance to the left centre and Robertson cleared to the black to move one from victory.
Both players had chances in the tenth frame, but it was Robertson who eventually found himself on a dead set long plant to the yellow pocket, which he deposited to set up a match winning visit and the title.
Robertson said: “The three times I’ve been here to play in big tournaments, I’ve won two of them. The strike rate is pretty good. I wish I could play in Hong Kong every week! The event is amazing and the crowd yesterday and today has been brilliant. They’ve created a wonderful atmosphere. It is a place that I really enjoy coming to. When you come to a country that there are lots of things to do at, then you almost don’t want to leave.”
Robertson added: “It is very rare to win by a whitewash in a final. It certainly wasn’t what I expected coming into the match today. I started brilliantly in the first four frames and after that I was able to capitalise on some mistakes from Stuart. I think both players knew the writing was on the wall at six or seven nil. Going into tonight I wanted to do my best to win 10-0. I feel for Stuart, as he is a great guy and we get along well.
“Working with Joe Perry this season has been great. We collaborate every day. I message him a little bit too much sometimes, as I am so in depth with my match analysis. I just want to make sure that before we move onto the next tournament, we have covered everything. It is a partnership that has been going really well. Also my sport psychologist Helen Davies has been amazing. After losing in the World Championship last year, I’d had enough. I wasn’t getting the best out of myself. This summer I set out to have a team like you would in other sports.”
After the match, 48-year-old Bingham revealed that he had received the sad news in between sessions that his uncle Ray had passed away.
Bingham said: “My wife told me when I went back to the hotel at 8-0 down. He’s been ill for a couple of weeks. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but it is obviously a sad day.
“It was going to be an uphill struggle tonight. It was just one of those days where it didn’t happen. I’ve been there and got the T shirt a few times. What has happened this week has shown that it is a game of snooker and there are more important things in life. You have to take the rough with the smooth.”
