Neil Robertson won the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters with a dramatic 10-9 triumph over Ronnie O’Sullivan in Saturday’s final.
The crowd inside the Green Halls in Jeddah were treated to a barnstorming battle between two heavyweights of the game.
Robertson held his nerve at the very end when it mattered the most to collect his 26th career ranking crown and a record payday of £500,000.
That sum of ranking points will additionally see him return to the number three position in the world.
It represents a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the 43 year-old, who entered last year’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters bidding to simply regain his spot among the top 16.
Following O’Sullivan’s heroics on the penultimate day when he compiled a brace of 147 breaks in the same match, it was always going to be difficult to replicate that kind of high standard again.
So it proved initially, with the Rocket at first struggling to rediscover his best form in the opening session.
Robertson took an early lead with a break of 76 and duly countered his opponent’s reply of 92 with runs of 108 and 81 to lead 3-1.
By the conclusion of the first session, the Melbourne man had extended that advantage to 6-2.
When O’Sullivan wasted an opportunity in the first frame of the second session, where he ran out of position before playing a loose shot in frustration, the writing appeared to be on the wall.
Robertson compiled an excellent 97 break to move five frames clear and within three of securing the silverware.
Yet O’Sullivan had other ideas, and the 49 year-old fought back in fantastic fashion to restore parity – compiling breaks of 139, 97, 89, 50, and 87 in the process.
Robertson stopped the rot with a timely run of 75 before O’Sullivan took a dramatic 16th frame on the pink to level again.
The latter subsequently took the front for the first time with a 64 in the next frame, himself moving one frame away from glory.
But just as was the case 12 months ago when the inaugural staging of the event took place in Riyadh, the outcome required a deciding frame.
Robertson, who had appeared to be going into his shell somewhat, produced an excellent 101 century break to guarantee a 19th and final frame.
The former world number one then took advantage of a couple of poor safety shots from his esteemed opponent to clinch victory with a break of 87.
“I think it surpasses the World Championship (success from 2010),” an emotional Neil Robertson said in his post-match interview.
“I’ve had to answer a lot of questions, like can I beat Ronnie in a final of this magnitude? To beat him here with so much on the line, it’s definitely my best win.”
Robertson moves to joint-sixth on the all-time ranking event winners list alongside Mark Williams, with three of those victories having come in the space of the last 11 months.
There was a spell a couple of seasons ago when it looked like Robertson’s tenure as a marquee name might be coming to an end.
But as the great champions so often do, he has dug deep and managed to reestablish himself as one of the sport’s very best again.
O’Sullivan will be disappointed to have failed in his bid to add a record-extending 42nd ranking title to his tally.
But it was still a promising week for the Englishman, whose new cue helped him to, at times, orchestrate scintillating snooker that was reminiscent of his heyday.
He’ll have to settle for the runner-up prize on this occasion with the 2025 edition of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, dubbed the sport’s fourth major that will continue to prove contentious, belonging to Neil Robertson.
Featured photo credit: WST
