World Champ. 2009 -2nd round discussion!

[João]

Maguire through without any fireworks. Might be some against Robertson though.

I've lost the count of how many times they met in the last years.

[brettski]

Well.. //cough// Ermm.. Wait, I gotta breath!
What a match, what a match.. Fantastico captain Neil!
I was doing maths when his match was on, I think I made over 6 mistakes!
I think he showed that he is mentally strong.. and ... I won't be watching tomorrow it seems.. not the entire match ..

Good luck captain Neil! Aye aye! Hitting again against Maguire!

Never biased eh Lara?

[LarrahRobertson]

Never biased eh Lara?

LoL, not biased Brett! Just happy with the score.. and GOD I LOVE THIS INTERVIEW:

It’s good to have a convincing win over one of the in-form players. It’s nice to be involved in this year's championship, winning the Bahrain Championship this season was great but you dont really get the same recognition as doing well in the BBC events.

Yesterday was a disaster but somehow I still got out of the session leading by the two frames. My manager sent me a text saying that the headline for the morning papers would read ROBERTSON ARRESTED FOR STEALING FOUR FRAMES. It was unbelievable to win four frames on the black. Starting the session at 5-3, I was just lacking something, I wasn't pumped at all. So when I cleared up to go 6-6, I had to punch someone or scream, luckily I let out a scream. After the interval I was fine and produced some more clearances, and today I felt fine. At 9-7 I was very confident, he would have been sick, I dont think he would have slept that well last night.

You got pumped up out there, especially when you punched the air.

You look at sports like tennis,football and golf, they all show emotion, the likes of Roger Federer* will win a big point in a match and he will give it the fist or some other form of celebration, it’s not personal. Peter Ebdon was probably the first player to celebrate good shots and his victories. Some players took it personally but it's just sport. I told Ali at the end of the match that it was nothing personal. If someone did it to me, I wouldn't care.

Stephen Maguire bangs his cue and smashes things, it's not to put the opponent off it’s just passion. I think it’s good to see, I loved watching Ebdon. If I was a neutral watching a game of snooker I would enjoy the players showing their emotions, because if I didn't know anything about the sport, I would probably carry on watching it.

Will you continue showing your emotions in the quarter final ?

It all depends, you don't plan it. Last year when I played Stephen Maguire and went 4-0 down, I punched that big black wall there really hard, but that was bad emotions, when I screamed out yesterday that was good emotion. It just came out, it was like a volcano erupted, I just had to do something. If I win big frames in my next match, I dont know what I’ll do. You will just have to wait and see.


Is it going to be a big year for the Aussies this year in England ?

I certainly hope so, with the Ashes coming up it would be nice to give the boys a bit of a start. Australia have been struggling in the cricket for the last six to seven years, and not been dominating like we have done before. The Olympics was also a bit disappointing, so if I can have a good run here it would give us a lift.

If you don't win the title, who do you think will ?

Well because Ronnie is always the favourite, now with Ronnie getting beat, everybody starts saying the tournament is wide open, but it’s wide open anyway, Ronnie doesn't win every tournament, he wins maybe two or three a season. Obviously when he is at his best, he is the best player in the world, there is no doubting that. But anyone can win, Mark Allen proved that he wasn't daunted by the challenge against Ronnie and gave as good as he got. A lot of players when they come up against anyone in the top four, almost appear to be satisfied getting beat in the last sixteen or quarter finals. Over the last few years, players' mentalities have improved, and many do think they can beat anyone now. I don't think you can single one player out to win, it will come down to who believes in their ability the most.


* he mentioned Roger, my all time idol! The man who I WORSHIP for the past 3 years! Thanks Neil!

[Phil]

thanks for putting this up, Ms. Robertson!

[The Boss]

Maguire through without any fireworks. Might be some against Robertson though.

King didn't deserve to lose 13-6. It was a much closer match than the scoreline suggests. King didn't get the rub of the green when he needed it and Maguire did what he had to. King will play worse than that and win. He'll be back next season and the best is still to come from the Romford Godfather

[Rane]

Dott - Selby seems to go on forever.

[spike]

At last the frame is over and Selby leads only by two at 11-9.

[brettski]

At last the frame is over and Selby leads only by two at 11-9.

Aye spike but looking a bit unsure now, I'd have put him at a dead cert to win the match earlier what do you think?

[spike]

Aye spike but looking a bit unsure now, I'd have put him at a dead cert to win the match earlier what do you think?

Selby should still win it i think. 13-10 to Selby i say, but would be quite happy to see another decider like earlier today.

[Odrl]

I've lost the count of how many times they met in the last years.

Me too. Isn't it three times this season alone? Robertson has only won once, but he seems to be fired up at the moment. He's not easily bullied when on form.

King didn't deserve to lose 13-6. It was a much closer match than the scoreline suggests. King didn't get the rub of the green when he needed it and Maguire did what he had to. King will play worse than that and win. He'll be back next season and the best is still to come from the Romford Godfather

And unless Dott produces something unexpected, King will stay at number 16, and would meet the defending champion in the 2nd round next year. And O'Sullivan as the 2nd seed gets Williams.

[Rane]

Dotts up against the wall now, but both players will have to up their game, if they are going to match Higgins.

[spike]

Quite a reaction from Mark Selby there. Only 1 frame away from victory now for Mark

[Odrl]

Yeah, you'd think Selby would try to make it scrappy against Higgins if he's not up to matching Higgins' scoring. But the problem is that Higgins plays that game superbly as well.

[rivercard]

Quite a reaction from Mark Selby there. Only 1 frame away from victory now for Mark

I'm OK with post-match celebrations, but all this fist-pumping/shouting after winning a frame no matter how crucial the player feels it was, maybe is a bit over the top.

[Odrl]

One down, three to go for Dott. Superb frame, early split, and never had to play a difficult shot after that.