Robertson: I wouldn’t have lost in front of fans
NEIL ROBERTSON feels Yan Bingtao wouldn’t have beaten him in the first round of the Masters had fans been in the arena.
The 2012 champion caved in to the 20- year- old Chinese after leading at 3- 1 and 5- 3, beaten 6- 5 and falling at the first hurdle in the Triple Crown event for the second successive year.
Robertson says he felt like a pricked balloon after plans to have fans were parked and the Masters moved from Alexandra Palace to a biosecure bubble in Milton Keynes.
“We were all set to play in front of a crowd and as players, we felt we’d done our hard work of playing behind closed doors,” the Australian said.
“It’s stale, it doesn’t feel like the Masters and it’s pretty tough to play in.
“For the guys who’ve had a lot of success in this environment, it takes a lot of extra motivation and I didn’t feel it at all.
“If it was at Ally Pally in front of a crowd, I wouldn’t have felt like that, I would have been really up for it and would probably have won the match.
“The match started to drag down a bit and both of us struggled to make things happen.
That probably suits more than mine.”
The 38- year- old started superbly in his third meeting with Yan, nine years younger than any other player in the Masters draw. The Australian made two 80 breaks and a century in the first four frames.
Robertson was the architect of his own downfall and missed a decisive red on the rest at 5- 4,
his
style with Yan showing his tactical prowess to win the final three frames to claim victory.
The 2010 world champion took Norwegian wife Mille and his children to celebrate Christmas in her homeland, sacrificing table time in order to do so, but harboured no regrets.
“I didn’t play great and I think that’s to be expected with a few weeks off,” Robertson said.
“I didn’t have the opportunity to play over Christmas having gone to Norway. I was fully prepared to not play well and come in undercooked, and I’m fine with that.
“If I’d just got through the first round, I could have got a couple of days of practice and got myself sharp. But win or lose, I was comfortable with that decision and I knew the consequences.”