Robertson triumphs in Grand Prix final
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Neil Robertson won his second Grand Prix title after Ding Junhui capitulated in tonight's final at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall. Australian Robertson, 27, completed a 9-4 victory to claim his fourth ranking title, making him the most successful player from outside the Britain and Ireland in the history of the game. Ding - who had shared that honour - twice came from behind to level at 4-4 at the start of the evening session. The Chinese star, 22, had staged comebacks in three of his four matches on the way to the final, but he never recovered from losing an epic ninth frame, which lasted for almost an hour. Neither player had lost the final of a ranking event before but it was Robertson who emerged with that record intact. Fresh from his final-black victory over world champion John Higgins - hailed as one of the finest matches in the tournament's history - the Australian could not have dreamed of a better start as he potted everything in sight on his way to a 124 clearance. The 2006 champion began frame two in similar fashion and although he twice broke down while in among the balls, a run of 46 ultimately proved enough. He was also in first in the third but his shot selection began to go awry, and after almost half an hour of scrappy play, Ding got off the mark. Robertson broke down again while leading in the final frame before the mid-session interval, and this time Ding needed just one chance, a break of 80 levelling proceedings. The world number 13 picked up where he left off at the restart, a 112 clearance putting him ahead for the first time. Ding was beginning to look every bit as good as Robertson had earlier but he missed a tricky red in the sixth and the Australian took full advantage. A 108 clearance was Robertson's 100th competitive ton and certainly one of his hardest earned, chock full of superb recovery pots. The final frame of the session proved dramatic. Ding was unfortunate to knock in a red splitting the pack off the blue before Robertson miscued horribly when in among the balls. But the Australian - who climbs up to third in the provisional world rankings - did not waste his next chance, compiling a 43 break to go back in front. Despite missing the easiest of yellows, runs of 48 and 47 helped Ding level again as the evening session got under way. The Chinese then almost came from 50 points down to steal a gruelling 57-minute ninth frame - the longest of the tournament - after getting a snooker but Robertson held on. The malaise persisted until Robertson managed a 36 break to move two ahead before two easy missed reds from his opponent and a run of 46 helped him into a 7-4 lead at the interval. Ding's game continued to disintegrate and he was unable to hide his frustration when he fluffed a simple pink to the middle to hand Robertson a dour frame 12. And he broke down again in the next, Robertson punishing him with a break of 89 to wrap up victory.
