Neil Robertson has done near enough everything there is to do in snooker, but he is still learning and will watch Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins as he strives to improve.
The 42-year-old has won 23 ranking events and landed a couple of Masters titles along the way in an incredible career that has cemented his spot as the best non-UK player in snooker history.
It has been a tough season for the Australian, though, without as much of a quarter-final run in a ranking tournament and with World Championship qualifying almost certain next month after tumbling down the rankings.
The Thunder from Down Under is still looking to make improvements, and while he does not feel that there are many players who can teach him at this stage of his career, the Rocket and the Wizard of Wishaw certainly can.
‘I don’t watch all the tournaments, if I think it’s a good match with Ronnie and Judd [Trump] playing or John, [Mark] Selby, anything I think could be an interesting match I might tune in and watch a bit of it,’ Robertson said on Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips channel. ‘But I won’t watch a match just for the sake of watching snooker.
‘I think Ronnie and John are the two that still can be educationational. Just trying to predict what they’re going to play and then see what they do play.
‘From Ronnie’s perspective, how he just never plays scrappy frames, obviously that’s a big one for me. If I can avoid the scrappy frames there’s not many players who can beat me.’
Robertson had won a professional title ever single year from 2006 till 2022, but such was his nightmare 2023 that his record came to an end.
The Aussie says the pressure of keeping up that streak got to him late in the year, but now it is off the table he is feeling better about his game, with the World Open coming up next week and then the World Championship next month.
‘It’s not my best season and one that if you’d told me I was going to have at the start of it, I wouldn’t have believed you,’ he said. ‘But here we are, it’s an exciting challenge.
‘The pressure of that record was more than the form itself because it was something I was really proud of. Whatever record you have you want to keep going as long as possible. I think I became a bit desperate and trying to force wins rather than let it happen. Now it’s gone it’s almost a relief.
‘Since the Masters my form has picked up massively. I’m playing much, much better. I feel really good about my game. Qualifying for the Worlds is probably something I have to face, but that’s fine.’
Next up for Robertson is the Winners’ Group at the Championship League on 12-13 March before the World Open in Yushan, China, starting next Monday.
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