NEIL Robertson insists he cannot allow his time on the practice table to diminish – despite picking up his first title in 18 months at the Dafabet Scottish Open.
The finale to the competition at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena was pure sporting drama at its very best.
On one hand, you had the plucky underdog, China’s Cao Yupeng, full of youthful exuberance as he neared a first ranking title and just one frame away from completing that goal at 8-4 up.
On the other, Robertson, the experienced pro attempting to come back from that seemingly insurmountable deficit to secure a first ranking title since June 2016 and banish 12 months of average form.
It would be Robertson who prevailed, winning five frames in a row to triumph 9-8 and leave Cao distraught, though the Australian is not resting on his laurels.
“The funny thing is now that I’ve won this and the Hong Kong Masters earlier in the season, all of a sudden I’ve won two events and it’s all good again,” said the 35-year-old from Melbourne.
“I’ve practised so hard it’s incredible, at some stage over the last few months I was practising 200 long balls a day, as well as the other things you have to do.
“I think my main threat is my long potting, when my hand is on the table I will go for it and it’s good to get my long game back to that.
“I’ve improved as a player overall, 11 centuries this week, my performance against John Higgins and Xiao Guodong, I think I’m playing better than I ever have.
“But you need to because the whole tour’s playing so much better.”
Robertson clearly enjoys playing in Scotland, the win represents his fourth ranking title here, but how did he pull off such a miraculous comeback?
The Chinese cueman played with supreme confidence to get to 8-4 up, breaks of 82, 72 and 70 helping to take the first three frames.
Cao led 5-3 at the interval but a break of 132 in the tenth showed Robertson was still in it, and sensing his opponents nerves at 8-4 the Australian went all out.
In the final few frames all those in the arena could see Cao’s visible distress and upon conclusion it would’ve taken a hard soul to not feel for the 27-year-old.
But this tournament represents the best he’s ever played, and the man himself believes he’ll learn from it.
“I’m just a little bit sad because I put too much pressure on myself when I was close to winning the match,” said Cao.
“When I started I had a good feeling, going to 8-4 up I had a great feeling and thought I could control the match.
“The heart needs to be stronger, that’s what I need to learn from Neil and the other top-16 players, they’ve got a very strong heart and they don’t lose control and everything in a moment in the match.”
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