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Neil Robertson battled back from 1-3 down to beat Gerard Greene 5-3 in the first round of the Grand Prix in Glasgow.
The Australian, beaten in the opening round last year by Steve Davis needed all his experience to scramble past by Northern Ireland's Greene who made life difficult for the Melbourne man, keeping it tight with strong safety that made it tough for Neil to find any sort of rhythm.
Greene got a flyer as swiftly notched up a 2-0 lead without even offering Robertson any real chances- he should have gone 3-0 up as he was in perfect position among the balls on 19 when he missed a simple red to the corner- and Robertson helped himself to the gift as he compiled a frame winning break of 56 to reduce the deficit.
Yet if anyone thought as soon as Robertson had closed to 2-1 Greene, the world number 32 would start to doubt himself they were much mistaken as he fired in a long red to to the top corner and put together a break of 97 to re-establish a two frame lead and have an enjoyable cup of tea- Robertson's would have tasted something akin to strychnine given the lacklustre display he was putting on for the Glasgow crowd. The interval was to save his bacon.
Robertson knew he had to stop playing Gerard's game and impose his on the match and using his frustration in a positive was kept it tight with a safety exchange at the beginning of the fifth frame. Sure enough it finally forced the hand of Greene who took a wild slash at a red and missed by some margin- leaving Robertson with an inviting looking table. Sinking a simple straight red Neil made the most of the opening, as he fired in a break of 78 to claim the frame.
As Neil started to relax so Gerard started to try too hard and Robertson capitalised on Greene's discomfort when in control of the frame Gerard's miss on a long red handed Neil the table at his mercy. Showing increasingly better judgement Robertson rubbed salt in Gerard's wounds as he cleared up to restore parity at 3-3.
Down now to the best of three and Greene had a lot to think about having seen his lead erased. Left an extrememly risky red Greene once again played the wrong shot as he tried to pot his way out of trouble. The recklessness was to prove his undoing as he left Neil with a straightforward red along the top cushion- as the red flew into the top corner pocket and Robertson striding around the table made Gerard sit and suffer as a break of 61 gave put the Australian one frame from victory.
Greene was demoralised and a bungled safety let Robertson in again with 32 - only to lose position and have to play safe. This time Greene played the correct shots and forced a mistake when Neil left a straight mid length red for Gerard- he grabbed the lifeling he had been thrown and with blues compiled a break of 41 to put himself back in the frame before being forced into safety. This was a battle he was destined not to win as he missed the posse of reds at the top end of the table - and even worse gave a way a free ball. As he eaked out a 51-41 lead he left Greene snookered behind the green and brown. Greene was left to trust to luck and the cards fell against him as he left the red sitting over the middle pocket. Robertson dropped it in and cleared up with 15 to clinch victory at 5-3 - and pull off what at the interval looked like an unlikely victory.
Elsewhere Ryan Day and Jamie Cope traded blow for blow in a match of fluctuating fortunes.
The Shotgun from Stoke pounced on a nervous looking Day's mistakes in opening up a 2-0 lead- but then started to fire some blanks of his own as his loose safety gave Day his first real opportunity. And didn't he take it.
Dispatching 15 red and 15 blacks Ryan had the Glasgow crowd on the edge of their seats as sunk yellow, green, brown and blue to come within two balls of a maximum break. The pink was just inches in front of the cue ball as Day lined it up for the corner pocket- only to agonisingly slide wide of the jaw and refuse to drop. Still the 134 break put him in a better frame of mind as Ryan left the table to compose himself after coming so close to a £20,000 bonus.
Returning the Welshman capitalised on the foothold he had in the match as he stroked in a plant to the corner and made 73 to level at 2-2 at the interval- and leave Cope wondering where it had all gone wrong.
And he was certainly dwelling on it sitting in his seat as Day looked set to take the fifth frame- going nicely on a break of 20 Day got a thunderous kick on the black that left it in the jaws of the corner pocket. With a look of disgust Ryan marched back to his seat as Jamie given a chance he probably did not expect to get ultimately broke down on 37 when he jawed a red in the top corner pocket. With the scores poised at 22-39 in Jamie's favour he compounded his miss by subsequently leaving a red sitting over the corner pocket and Ryan cleared with 25 to take his third successive frame- heaving a huge sigh of relief in the process.
Building on the momentum he had Ryan drilled in a long red and made a quickfire 55 before going for a risky red. Choosing it meant he would leave Jamie with a good chance if he missed- and Ryan was to regret it as Jamie replied with 45 to leave the frame in the balance on 55-46 with just the colours remaining. Cope was desperate to stop Ryan from going three up with four to play - and producing some vicious snookers extricated eight penalty points from Day and cleared up to level at 3-3.
Having stopped the rot Cope promptly handed the initiative back to Day who made 38 before breaking down- to make matters worse for Ryan he left a very inviting table with all the reds in pottable positions and the colours on their spots. Cope replied with 64 only to catch the blue when trying for position on the final red. Once again it came down to the colours- and it was to be deja vu for the Welshman has Jamie held his nerve to knock in yellow, green and brown to lead 4-3.
Ryan was in no mood to go away as got in first again with 22, but yet again he failed to make the most of it- and a second chance he was gifted by Cope as he left the reds in inviting positions after missing a long blue. The two let offs were to prove costly as Cope held his nerve in striking in a long red and completing a match winning break of 66 to record a 5-3 victory and book his place in the draw for the second round.
Suzy Jardine
The Australian, beaten in the opening round last year by Steve Davis needed all his experience to scramble past by Northern Ireland's Greene who made life difficult for the Melbourne man, keeping it tight with strong safety that made it tough for Neil to find any sort of rhythm.
Greene got a flyer as swiftly notched up a 2-0 lead without even offering Robertson any real chances- he should have gone 3-0 up as he was in perfect position among the balls on 19 when he missed a simple red to the corner- and Robertson helped himself to the gift as he compiled a frame winning break of 56 to reduce the deficit.
Yet if anyone thought as soon as Robertson had closed to 2-1 Greene, the world number 32 would start to doubt himself they were much mistaken as he fired in a long red to to the top corner and put together a break of 97 to re-establish a two frame lead and have an enjoyable cup of tea- Robertson's would have tasted something akin to strychnine given the lacklustre display he was putting on for the Glasgow crowd. The interval was to save his bacon.
Robertson knew he had to stop playing Gerard's game and impose his on the match and using his frustration in a positive was kept it tight with a safety exchange at the beginning of the fifth frame. Sure enough it finally forced the hand of Greene who took a wild slash at a red and missed by some margin- leaving Robertson with an inviting looking table. Sinking a simple straight red Neil made the most of the opening, as he fired in a break of 78 to claim the frame.
As Neil started to relax so Gerard started to try too hard and Robertson capitalised on Greene's discomfort when in control of the frame Gerard's miss on a long red handed Neil the table at his mercy. Showing increasingly better judgement Robertson rubbed salt in Gerard's wounds as he cleared up to restore parity at 3-3.
Down now to the best of three and Greene had a lot to think about having seen his lead erased. Left an extrememly risky red Greene once again played the wrong shot as he tried to pot his way out of trouble. The recklessness was to prove his undoing as he left Neil with a straightforward red along the top cushion- as the red flew into the top corner pocket and Robertson striding around the table made Gerard sit and suffer as a break of 61 gave put the Australian one frame from victory.
Greene was demoralised and a bungled safety let Robertson in again with 32 - only to lose position and have to play safe. This time Greene played the correct shots and forced a mistake when Neil left a straight mid length red for Gerard- he grabbed the lifeling he had been thrown and with blues compiled a break of 41 to put himself back in the frame before being forced into safety. This was a battle he was destined not to win as he missed the posse of reds at the top end of the table - and even worse gave a way a free ball. As he eaked out a 51-41 lead he left Greene snookered behind the green and brown. Greene was left to trust to luck and the cards fell against him as he left the red sitting over the middle pocket. Robertson dropped it in and cleared up with 15 to clinch victory at 5-3 - and pull off what at the interval looked like an unlikely victory.
Elsewhere Ryan Day and Jamie Cope traded blow for blow in a match of fluctuating fortunes.
The Shotgun from Stoke pounced on a nervous looking Day's mistakes in opening up a 2-0 lead- but then started to fire some blanks of his own as his loose safety gave Day his first real opportunity. And didn't he take it.
Dispatching 15 red and 15 blacks Ryan had the Glasgow crowd on the edge of their seats as sunk yellow, green, brown and blue to come within two balls of a maximum break. The pink was just inches in front of the cue ball as Day lined it up for the corner pocket- only to agonisingly slide wide of the jaw and refuse to drop. Still the 134 break put him in a better frame of mind as Ryan left the table to compose himself after coming so close to a £20,000 bonus.
Returning the Welshman capitalised on the foothold he had in the match as he stroked in a plant to the corner and made 73 to level at 2-2 at the interval- and leave Cope wondering where it had all gone wrong.
And he was certainly dwelling on it sitting in his seat as Day looked set to take the fifth frame- going nicely on a break of 20 Day got a thunderous kick on the black that left it in the jaws of the corner pocket. With a look of disgust Ryan marched back to his seat as Jamie given a chance he probably did not expect to get ultimately broke down on 37 when he jawed a red in the top corner pocket. With the scores poised at 22-39 in Jamie's favour he compounded his miss by subsequently leaving a red sitting over the corner pocket and Ryan cleared with 25 to take his third successive frame- heaving a huge sigh of relief in the process.
Building on the momentum he had Ryan drilled in a long red and made a quickfire 55 before going for a risky red. Choosing it meant he would leave Jamie with a good chance if he missed- and Ryan was to regret it as Jamie replied with 45 to leave the frame in the balance on 55-46 with just the colours remaining. Cope was desperate to stop Ryan from going three up with four to play - and producing some vicious snookers extricated eight penalty points from Day and cleared up to level at 3-3.
Having stopped the rot Cope promptly handed the initiative back to Day who made 38 before breaking down- to make matters worse for Ryan he left a very inviting table with all the reds in pottable positions and the colours on their spots. Cope replied with 64 only to catch the blue when trying for position on the final red. Once again it came down to the colours- and it was to be deja vu for the Welshman has Jamie held his nerve to knock in yellow, green and brown to lead 4-3.
Ryan was in no mood to go away as got in first again with 22, but yet again he failed to make the most of it- and a second chance he was gifted by Cope as he left the reds in inviting positions after missing a long blue. The two let offs were to prove costly as Cope held his nerve in striking in a long red and completing a match winning break of 66 to record a 5-3 victory and book his place in the draw for the second round.
Suzy Jardine
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