SHEFFIELD Australia's Neil Robertson became the first player from outside the British Isles since 1980 to win the World Snooker Championship when he sealed victory over Graeme Dott in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Resuming the evening session with a 12-10 lead, Robertson went on to beat former champion Dott 18-13 at the Crucible Theatre to claim the title and a cheque for 250,000 pounds ($381,000).
“It's an amazing feeling to be world champion after a Titanic struggle of a match,” a relieved Robertson told reporters. “The pressure before the final and during the final was absolutely unbelievable because there's so much at stake.”
However, the final showdown was somewhat overshadowed by the match-fixing allegations surrounding last year's champion John Higgins, which surfaced just hours before the contest got underway.
Giving his reaction to the story which has rocked the sport to its core, Robertson said “It took me by absolute surprise, but I don't really know enough about it to comment about it.”
Robertson gave his backing to new World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association chairman Barry Hearn, who reacted swiftly to the scandal by suspending Higgins and launching an investigation into the matter.
“I couldn't be more happy with Barry's reaction so far. He is a million percent the man to take the game forward,” Robertson added.—Reuters
