Robertson players final
Ranking, Snooker Headlines

Neil Robertson Says Reaching Players Final is a ‘Bonus’

Neil Robertson is through to the Players Championship final after a 6-1 defeat of Jimmy Robertson on Saturday in Wolverhampton.

Both players struggled with the conditions of the table, which led to a mostly scrappy encounter in which sizable contributions were at a premium.

Robertson will face Barry Hawkins in the final on Sunday, just a few short weeks after the two players clashed at the same stage of the prestigious Masters in London.

“I’m pleased to negotiate a tough course to negotiate,” Australia’s Robertson told the World Snooker Tour after his semi-final victory.

“Jimmy obviously had a great win against John (Higgins) and would have been expecting to play a similar kind of level.”

“We were both kind of thrown off by how the way the table was playing tonight – especially off the cushions, it was really tough.

“It made break-building and adjusting to that really tough, and maybe my experience in those kinds of situations was the difference. In the bigger moments I potted the bigger balls when it really mattered.

“It’s fantastic to see Barry back into another final. He’s going to be really motivated to win, he’s a great player, our matches are always played in a great spirit.

“Even after the Masters final, we both had a great time at the after-party. When you play people like Barry, you just play the match and whoever the better player on the day is wins.

“Coming here I was just hoping to win a match really, because I only had a few days to prepare and I wasn’t feeling very well at all.

“To get to the final is a massive bonus. It puts me in a much better position to get to the Tour Championship to actually have an opportunity to defend it.”

Live coverage continues on ITV4 across Ireland and the UK, with other options around the world available.

Featured photo credit: WST

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