Neil Robertson is one of the most acclaimed snooker players of this generation as he has won multiple ranking titles, broke numerous records and is the first Australian to win the World snooker championships. Described by many other professionals as having the straightest cue action and certainly one of the best long potters the game has ever seen, Robertson has accomplished things in snooker others can only dream about. He has won multiple ranking titles along with making breaking records on more than one occasion as we discuss below.
Although Neil Robertson has done all of this, the road to success has not always been easy over the years for a variety of reasons.
As a kid, Neil Robertson’s father ran a snooker club in Melbourne, Australia where he quickly learnt his trade in snooker. Being the son of a man who had his own snooker club no doubt made his exposure to snooker easier as snooker would not be the most popular sport in Australia. At just the age of 14 he began his snooker career by entering the Australian open where he became the youngest player to ever record a century break here. In the same year Neil also won the under 18’s Australian title. At 15 years of age, Robertson left school and decided to dedicate all of his time and effort into snooker, which for many snooker players is a risky decision.
Knowing the only way to progress his snooker career and to achieve to the best of his ability, Neil Robertson decided to move to the UK at 16 and practice among fellow professionals to improve his game, something which was impossible to do in Australia at that time. Arriving in the UK, Robertson had just brought £500 in his pocket, which was not even enough for a ticket home if thing didn’t work out initially. In his first year in the UK he reached the last 16 of the IBSF world snooker championships.
Robertson found it difficult to remain on the professional circuit early on in his career as he was not accumulating enough ranking points, so as a result he dropped off the main tour and returned home to Australia where he reevaluated his career. After a few years of playing in Australia and dominating the game there, Robertson wanted to return to the UK to prove his ability with the top professionals in the world and so in 2003 he returned to the UK and subsequently won the 2003 WPBSA World under 21 championship which was held in New Zealand. It was during the 03/04 season that he made headway on the professional tour by reaching a quarter final of a ranking event, making him provisionally 48th in the world.
After defeating some of the best snooker players in the world at that time, and some other impressive results in ranking events, Neil quickly climbed up the ranking ladder and in just the following season (04/05) he had reached provincially 13th in the World but it was the following year that Robertson was officially part of the top 16.
During the 2006/07 season, Robertson became the first Australian to win a ranking event by winning the Grand Prix beating Ronnie O’Sullivan along the way. In the same season he also won the Welsh open, making him the only player to win two ranking titles that year.
From here Robertson has gone from strength to strength, not least in 2010 when he became the third non UK player to win the World Championships (besides Horace Lindrum in 1952 to which many don’t count due to a player boycott). While competing at the World Championships his wife Mille was heavily pregnant with his son Alexander in Norway. Having the world title under his belt propelled him to No.2 in the world the following season.
From there Neil Robertson has gone on and won 12 ranking titles in all including two UK championships, the China open, World open and the Welsh masters. Along with this he has also won the 2012 Masters and 2015 Champion of Champions titles. Neil is only one of a handful of players to have captured the triple crown and to have held No.1 spot in the world.
In the 2014 season Neil Robertson made the record books at the World Championships after he recorded a century of centuries in a single season.
Robertson plays with a John Parris cue which he had since he was 15.
Neil Robertson now lives in the UK full time in Cambridge with his family (wife Mille and son Alexander) and regularly travels home to Australia and to other family members in Sweden. His snooker club is the Cambridge snooker centre where he practices with his good friend and fellow professional Joe Perry. As a dedicated vegan, Robertson is health conscious and hits the gym regularly and likes keep fit. Besides snooker, Robertson is a keen Chelsea fan and regularly goes to see his favourite soccer team play in London.
In addition to health promotion and soccer, Neil Robertson is a keen computer game player and has once said that if he wasn’t a snooker player, he’d be a graphic designer or computer game programmer. He loves shows such as game of thrones and the Simpson’s on the television.
He is described as easy-going and a laid back character, sometimes turning up late for matches or forgetting shoes etc, but on the table, Robertson is one of the most formidable opponents to come up against because of his all round-game which he has developed over the years.
Neil has demonstrated determination and courage throughout his career. He has learnt not to throw the towel in even when things look hopeless. Because of this methodology, Neil has come out and bounced back from a few setbacks which has made him a better and stronger snooker player.
