Neil Robertson returned to the winner’s circle on Sunday night, but only after being pushed hard by 20-year-old Wu Yize in a brilliant English Open final.
It was the Chinese youngster’s first ranking final and looked like it was going to end very badly for him as he slipped to 7-1 behind against the former world champion.
He is clearly made of stern stuff, though, as the evening session saw Wu play some incredible snooker, winning six out of seven frames with breaks of 127, 100, 82, 73, 95 and 50.
Robertson had gone from leading 8-2 to just 8-7 and there was little he could do about it, but eventually the Australian got a chance and kept composed to get over the line in the 16th frame.
It is the 42-year-old’s 24th ranking title, but his first tournament win in over two years after a notably poor spell by his high standards.
After the barrage of scoring from Wu, he was relieved to get his hands on the trophy, especially with his family in attendance and thanks to his work with friend and now mentor Joe Perry.
‘He completely froze me out, he played some of the best snooker I’ve ever seen in that five or six frame spell. Inspired stuff,’ Robertson told Eurosport.
‘It wasn’t looking good at one stage. You start thinking of runner-up speeches and how humble you’re going to have to be after being 8-2 up!’
‘It means everything. My dad’s here and he’s never even seen me play in a final before. 20 years I’ve been pro and he’s not been in the country when I’ve been doing well. This is the first title I’ve been able to win with my dad here, which means the world to me. My kids here and [wife] Mille as well and this is the first tournament I’ve won with Joe and I working together. It’s a lot of firsts and hopefully there’ll be many more.’
Wu came up short but it was a fabulous week for him, beating the likes of Judd Trump, Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter on his way to the final and picking up £45,000.
Former Masters champion Alan McManus has been touting the young talent for greatness since he got on tour in 2021 and says Wu reminds him of four-time world champion John Higgins.
‘I’ve been a fan of him for a few years, but it just dawned on me tonight. I know he’s not in this class, not anywhere near it, but he reminds me of John Higgins,’ said McManus. ‘I witnessed John as a kid come of age very, very quickly at this level and I thought, my goodness we’re seeing something incredibly special.
‘Neil was a bystander for four or five frames, pretty much, and that take something incredibly special. We have not seen the last of Wu Yize, not by a long shot, he’s going to win these things.’
Robertson was suitably impressed by his opponent, giving him a hug after the match and feeling like he is already excelling in all parts of the game, significantly improving from their Crucible meeting in 2023.
‘I haven’t really recovered from that onslaught just yet,’ said the Thunder from Down Under. ‘He just kept slamming balls in from an inch off the cushion and making clearances!
‘When I played him in the World Championship I said he has something very special about him. What he’s added to his game now is he’s very smart, he put me in more trouble with his safety than any other player this week.
‘He’s obviously very aggressive when he gets in, so he’s got a wonderful all round game. He’s got a brilliant temperament, never gives in.’
The £100,000 win for Robertson means the Australian climbs back into the top 16 (#15) in the rankings and Higgins slips out of the elite group.
It is an historic moment as the Scot is outside of the top 16 for the first time in 29 years after a record, having shown incredible consistency since turning professional in 1992.
The 49-year-old did enjoy a remarkable moment in Brentwood last week, though, making the 1000th century of his career in a last 16 defeat to Mark Allen and becoming only the second player after Ronnie O’Sullivan to reach that landmark.
The way the rankings work, it could be a very short stay outside the top 16 for the Wizard of Wishaw as a good run at this week’s British Open could see him move straight back up from his current spot of 17.
Higgins takes on Ross Muir in Cheltenham on Monday night.
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