‘That shouldn’t be allowed’: Neil Robertson vows to issue complaint about ‘absolute joke’ snooker tournaments
SNOOKER star Neil Robertson has vowed to complain about a major issue at the International Championship.
The 42-year-old was knocked out of the tournament in Nanjing following a 6-1 defeat to Barry Hawkins last week.
In the wake of his exit, Robertson claimed the pockets were bigger than usual.
Assessing the state of play, he said: “The pockets are definitely on the over-generous side.
“A lot of the skill is taken away. It just means the safety game is so important to create that first opportunity.
“I’ll be bringing it up at the Players Board.”
He continued: “They shouldn’t really be allowed to be that big at professional level.
“It is important to the fans watching that the product is genuine and not overinflated. But it is the same for both players.”
It wasn’t the first time Robertson had criticised the pocket sizes in China.
He also made the point after the Wuhan Open and International Championship last year.
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The Australian explained: “The variance in the pocket size in the last couple of years has been a massive leveller in the sport.
“And the last two tournaments in China were an absolute joke. They were like club tables. I mean, I know Judd [Trump] won in Wuhan, but if someone else won that tournament – and obviously the International Championship for me – those two tournaments should have massive asterisks next to them.
“If any individual record was broken, like centuries in a row or anything like that, it shouldn’t even count. It’s just insane. It’s like the swimmers years ago when they were smashing records with those suits, it’s a similar thing.”
However, the World Snooker Tour hit back and a spokesperson said: “We are very proud of our tables and we are proud of our team of incredibly talented table fitters. Conditions on the tour will always be challenging.
“Snooker tables are not designed to be moved from venue to venue, they are designed to be left in situ and allowed to settle.
“We have invested huge amounts in improving our equipment and facilities and we have increased the team to help with delivering consistently good table conditions.
“The pockets are always cut to template and representatives from both the WPBSA and the WPBSA Players Board are present in this process and signing off the tables. We always welcome feedback from players through the right channels.”
Ding Junhui went on to win the International Championship on Sunday with a 10-7 victory over Chris Wakelin.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season hen the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins