Neil Robertson yesterday claimed the Wuxi Classic title in front of an enthusiastic crowd in China.
The Australian came from behind to overcome Scotland’s John Higgins 10-7 in a thoroughly entertaining final of high quality snooker.
The victory means that Robertson has now won the last two ranking events staged in the People’s Republic following his success in the China Open at the end of the last campaign.
The 31 year-old has been so consistent of late that he now finds himself well clear at the top of the world rankings.
It has been a rare occurrence over the last year or so for a tournament to not feature the Melbourne man at the latter stages.
And his recent form could not have arrived at more perfect time with his home event, the Australian Open in Bendigo, just around the corner.
This is the final year in the initial contract signed for that event and it is touch and go whether a new deal will be put in place for 2014.
But a victory for Robbo on home turf could be just what the doctor ordered to keep the competition alive.
At any rate, that isn’t for another couple of weeks and we can talk more about that then.
Having trailed 5-2 against a determined Higgins, Robertson moved quickly through the gears and showed his true pedigree as one of the game’s great all-rounders to win six frames in a row and thoroughly stamp his authority on the contest.
And despite losing the 16th frame on the pink when it looked like he was set to wrap up the triumph, his cool temperament ensured that he put that behind him and duly wrapped up the success in the subsequent frame.
Of all the finals that Robertson has played in, and there’s been many, that was arguably the best he has played.
The win also propels his ranking event tally to eight, one behind fellow former world champions John Parrott and Peter Ebdon and only two behind Jimmy White.
The question is, with so much of his career still to go, how many can he finish up with?
Not since Higgins and O’Sullivan, and to a slightly lesser extent Mark Williams, have players threatened to accumulate a high tally.
While it may be unreasonable in such a competitive era to think that Robertson could maybe reach 20, it is more than acceptable to suggest that he may eventually come close.
Again, that’s for the future. The Wuxi Classic itself was a great tournament that nicely opens the new season.
The new format, whereby all players started in the first round, was a complete success in my opinion and led to the likes of David Morris and Cao Yupeng reaching the quarter-finals.
And just like with any format, the best of the best are generally always those left standing at the end – as was proven by our two finalists.
A fantastic week of snooker then and a deserving champion – more of the same please!
