5 hours ago
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Neil Robertson feels that John Higgins does things on a snooker table that ’99 per cent of people’ would not notice, but make him such a formidable opponent.
The four-time world champion beat the Australian 13-10 in the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals on Wednesday night, booking a 12th trip to a Crucible semi.
Shaun Murphy waits for him in the one-table set-up, after the Magician beat defending champion Zhao Xintong in the last eight.
It was a long, gruelling scrap between Higgins and Robertson with the Scot’s safety play seriously impressing the Thunder from Down Under.
‘His safety was unbelievable, it really was,’ said Robertson. ‘It’s just the little angles that he’s creating that commentators wouldn’t notice and perhaps people watching wouldn’t notice.
‘But when you’re out there and he’s blocking angles by an inch or two at a time, it’s something to really sort of appreciate.
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‘I wasn’t enjoying it too much, but I was admiring it.’
The Wizard of Wishaw is punishingly difficult to get the better of tactically, with Robertson saying: ‘I went into my chair thinking I’ve absolutely nailed him. He tapped the table, with a huge problem to solve, and I’m thinking I’m going to get in. I hardly was able to get in through a long red with my hand on the table once in the match. I think maybe a couple of frames before the end, maybe one other time, that was it.
‘Everything was on the cushion all the time and he was just cutting out the angles for the shots to nothing. He wasn’t allowing me to play thick safeties off the pack. He was blocking them with the colours so well.
‘Tactically it was a masterclass that 99 per cent of people wouldn’t see. It was very difficult for me to break down and create the opportunities.
‘Against Pang [Junxu], it was a lot easier because his safety wasn’t as good as John’s, so I could sort of bully the exchanges a little bit more. Chris Wakelin is very attacking, so that was perfectly fine to be on those kind of terms. But John was just…he was fantastic.’
Higgins actually thought Robertson got the better of their tactical battles over the 23 frames, saying: I definitely thought Neil outplayed me with the safety really, yeah, I really did.
‘And listen, I keep on saying it. What a champion he is. He always has been, since he’s come in the game, and he’s beat me a right few times.
‘I can’t tell you how much respect I’ve got for him as a guy and as a player, and to come out winning three tough sessions against him. It’s just an unbelievable result for me.’
Higgins is on a superb run in Sheffield, beating Ali Carter in round one, Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 16 and now Robertson in the quarters.
He is cutting a calm figure, though, with a relentless focus on the next job in hand rather than getting carried away with the impressive wins.
‘In previous years, I’d be sitting here buzzing, but now I’m just treating it the same as every other match,’ he said.
‘Even after the O’Sullivan game, people were talking about it, “what a match”, but I was thinking, I’ve got Neil Robertson next, an absolute mammoth game. So that game’s parked.
‘It’s the same again. an unbelievable win against Neil, but it’s parked because now I’ve got another huge job against an unbelievable champion in Murphy. It’s simple.
‘You’ve got to keep your so emotions low. People might think, “he’s a boring old git at least crack a smile,” but it’s not like that. You’ve just got to stay low-key and keep going on that hamster wheel.’
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