07:01 Friday 18 April 2014

Dafabet World Snooker Championship: Neil Robertson takes aim at Don Bradman's mark

Written byMARC BAZELEY

Neil Robertson Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson Neil Robertson

Neil Robertson has his sights set on emulating arguably Australia’s greatest sportsman, but not in the way you might think.

The Melbourne native, now domiciled in Cambridge, has already eclipsed the green baize achievements of fellow antipodean potters ‘Steady’ Eddie Charlton and poor old Horace Lindrum, whose 1952 World Championship triumph is often overlooked as he and Clark McConachy were the only entrants.

But along with tournament victories, Robertson has also been in pursuit of another accolade - the first man in the history of the sport to record 100 century breaks in a season.

His tally stands at 93 leading into the Dafabet World Championship and while he still hopes to reach the three-figure mark at the Crucible, Robertson is relaxed despite all the hype.

“I guess 100 sounds more magical, but it would be kind of funny if I get stuck on 99 like Don Bradman,” says Robertson with a smile, referencing the fact Bradman fell just four runs short of a career Test cricket batting average of exactly 100 in his final innings.

“Whatever number I end up with is already incredible. Judd Trump got the record last year with 63 and I’m already on 93, so people talk about the first player to make 100 centuries but I’m the first player to make 70, 80 and 90.”

It underlines just how much Robertson has been one of the form players on the tour, as does the fact he has held onto the No 1 spot in the world rankings for the entire season.

Victory in the Wuxi Classic was followed by his maiden UK Championship triumph and in the run-up to the World Championship he reached the final of the China Open despite suffering with a virus throughout the week.

Robertson believes the fact there are so many tournaments these days, compared to just eight ranking events when he first joined the tour a decade ago, has helped keep him focussed.

“It has really changed and I think it has helped improve my game a lot because you could play in a tournament and then there was nothing for over two months sometimes,” said Robertson.

“It’s difficult to maintain your motivation and your drive to keep practising every day when there’s not another tournament for a long time. Now, we don’t get as much time to practise but we’re always playing in tournaments.

“I’m not maybe getting a bit lazy and having the odd week off here and there a little bit too often, which is probably what I used to do.”

And so, to the big one in Sheffield, where Robertson aims to repeat his 2010 triumph. However, he feels it will be tougher than ever to do so.

“The opening round matches are so difficult to pick this year because there are a lot of good players who are qualifying, so I think it is one of the most competitive World Championships for a long time,” said Robertson, who starts his campaign against Crucible debutant Robbie Williams on Wednesday.

“If you look down at all the matches, even the last-16 ties aren’t as straight forward as they used to be. Seven or eight years ago, it was pretty easy to pick the quarter-finals but now it’s very difficult to do that.

“All of the players are really sharp now as well. There is no-one in the top 16 who is having a bad season because of the way the rankings are.

“A few years ago you could be playing someone who was ranked 15 in the world, but had hardly won a match all year. Now it’s who’s winning matches which makes the last 16 more difficult than it used to be.”

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