Australian Billiards & Snooker Council

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Robertson Adds To Williams Woe
02 Feb 2005

** This report is from the World Snooker website.

Mark Williams’ poor season continued in Malta tonight (Tuesday) as Aussie hot-shot Neil Robertson added another name to his list of major scalps.

Robertson stormed to a 5-1 victory at the Hilton Conference Centre to reach the last 16 of the Malta Cup. The 22-year-old from Melbourne beat Jimmy White and John Higgins in reaching the quarter-finals of the recent Welsh Open before losing narrowly 5-4 to Ronnie O’Sullivan.
He is rapidly developing a reputation, alongside Stephen Maguire, as one of snooker’s outstanding prospects. “It’s amazing how much I’m improving, I seem to get better every time I play,” said Robertson.

“I’ve learned a lot from watching the likes of O’Sullivan and Maguire at close hand, especially in terms of break-building and shot selection. It’s nice to chalk another name off my list tonight in beating Mark, especially after coming so close against Ronnie in Newport. Mark didn’t play that badly but I scored heavily and didn’t miss a long ball.”

Williams meanwhile, has won just one match in five ranking events so far this season; against Joe Jogia at the British Open. Officially ranked No 2, he has slipped to No 14 in the latest rankings and could face the prospect of dropping out of the elite top 16.

“Neil played very well tonight and I couldn’t compete,” said the two-times world champion from Cardiff. “He outplayed me in every department and deserved to win.

“I have been practising hard and I’m always hopeful. I’ll keep going and hope it turns around…if it doesn’t I’ll see you at Pontin’s next season!”

Robertson, a quarter-finalist here last year, raced into a 3-0 lead with breaks of 72, 48 and 78. Williams pulled one back with a 61 but any hopes of a fight back were dashed as his opponent knocked in 72 and 43 in completing his victory.

It was a return to form for the Australian, who suffered a 5-1 defeat against Dave Harold at last week’s China Open qualifiers. “I was drained for that match, having gone virtually straight there from the Welsh Open,” he added. “It’s fantastic to be back in Malta and hopefully I can go a couple of steps further than I went last year.”