Neil Robertson has described winning the Saudi Arabia Masters final against an in-form Ronnie O’Sullivan as his “best win” ever.
The Australian pocketed a massive £500,000 for winning snooker’s “Fourth Major” after beating the snooker legend 10-9 in a memorable final in Jeddah.
Robertson said the thrilling final-frame victory surpassed his World Championship title in 2010.
Victory marks a major turnaround of fortunes for Robertson. A year ago he was placed in somewhat snooker wilderness and fell way outside the top 16 after failing to qualify for the World Championship. His drop in form and world ranking was described as a “fall from grace”.
But the former world champion has turned it around in the past year. Winning the English Open and World Grand Prix last season were huge in restoring confidence and getting back into snooker’s elite.
His Saudi Arabia Masters victory earned him £500,000 – his biggest pay cheque to date. And he gets the same amount in rankings points, lifting him to number three in the world. Only Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson are in front of him.
And he did it against snooker’s greatest in Ronnie O’Sullivan. Thwarting off a strong comeback from him to get over the winning line. Just 24 hours after O’Sullivan made history by making two 147s in the same match in a proper world ranking evet – signalling his return to best form.
‘So much on the line’
Robertson said: “This surpasses winning the World Championship. 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 feels great to be back in this position (world number three). 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.”
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Main Image: Neil Robertson with the Saudi Arabia Masters trophy – Picture by World Snooker Tour
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