NEIL REALLY IS A LATE GREAT
NEIL ROBERTSON faces a fine for arriving late at the Crucible yesterday but wants a fast start against Chinese debutant Wu Yize this afternoon.
The 2010 champion from Australia begins his campaign for a second World title against 19-year-old qualifier Wu.
‘The Thunder from Down Under’ missed the official top-16 photo shoot of the seeds along with an ill Luca Brecel – and was so worried he took picture evidence of the A1 traffic jam that he was stuck in.
Robertson has previous form for arriving late, over-sleeping, missing flights and on one memorable occasion driving to the ‘wrong Barnsley’ – in Gloucestershire rather than Yorkshire – for a qualifying match.
He said: “I am not wearing a watch but I did take photos of the traffic jam. They shut the road, the A1, and I was stuck there about 40 miles out.
“I have sent World Snooker the pictures. As soon as I saw it, I sent it to the press manager saying I didn’t know what time I would get to them.
“If we didn’t take any pictures, then they would have said, ‘Neil, are you sure…?’.
‘‘So I have the proof. When I see something like that now, my heart sinks.
“I set off earlier than I ever had, and this is the latest I got here. I drove to the wrong Barnsley once – then found out there were three in the UK.
“But I’ve never been late for a Crucible match and I’ve never been late for an official match at a venue.’’
On today’s match, Robertson added: “It’s good to get off to a good start against a debutant.
“Last year against Ashley Hugill, he was playing unbelievable at the beginning. But then I came back strong and I think he realised where he was.
“You want to make them think that. I have built up massive leads here before in the first round, and though it gets harder to do that, you want to take advantage when you can.”
Judd Trump, the 2019 champion who plays Anthony McGill in the tie of the round on Tuesday, said of his pal Robertson: “Let’s hope he is not late on the day he plays.
“I turned up late last year, Jack Lisowski and I, we got the train this year to make sure it didn’t happen again.
“Neil might enjoy it, cutting it on the edge, but it doesn’t him give himself any time for error.
‘‘I got a £250 fine last year, so Neil can look forward to that.”