Australian set to take snooker final

3 May 2010, 11:05 am   -   Source: PA
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Neil Robertson competes in the world snooker championship finals in Sheffield. )Credit: Getty)

Neil Robertson competes in the world snooker championship finals in Sheffield. )Credit: Getty)

Australian Neil Robertson surges ahead in the snooker world championship final against Graeme Dott, following a surprise visit from his mother.

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Australian Neil Robertson surges ahead in the snooker world championship final against Graeme Dott, following a surprise visit from his mother.
   
Robertson secured the last four frames before the mid-session interval on Sunday to secure a 7-5 lead at Sheffield's Crucible theatre over Dott.
   
Robertson's mother Alison apparently began her trip to England before her son's semi-final against Ali Carter had even finished and her punt could pay dividends on Monday if the 28-year-old becomes just the second Australian player to secure the world crown.
   
There was an emotional meeting between mother and son before the day's play began, and Alison savoured seeing Robertson hit back from 5-3 down to lead 7-5.
   
"It was a leap of faith," she told the BBC.
   
"We had to wait until we got here to find out that Neil had got to the final. My partner and I had made a promise that if Neil ever made it to the final then we'd come over to watch him."
   
After beating Carter to reach the final, Robertson suggested he would check flight times to see if there was any chance of flying his mother in from the other side of the world - only to find a telephone message saying she had already departed.
   
Dott made a bright start to the final in a subdued Crucible.
   
The Scot's manager Pat Mooney had resigned earlier in the day from the board of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. And last year's world champion John Higgins was suspended by the WPBSA, following News Of The World allegations that Higgins and Mooney struck a deal to rig frames in return for money.

Thirty-two-year-old Dott, who won the title in 2006, kept his composure in testing circumstances to open up a 5-3 lead, making breaks of 80, 52 and 57.
   
Robertson was not performing anywhere near his best, with just one break over 50.
   
But that changed in the evening as he had runs of 61, 90 and 79, and rocked Dott by pinching the third frame from a position where he needed a snooker.
   
He found that snooker but by taking pink off the final red the best he could manage was taking the frame to a respotted black.
   
Robertson settled for that and potted the black, prompting a familiar exuberant celebration, not for the first time in the last fortnight.
   
There was a potential distraction for Robertson heading into the match, as his Oslo-based girlfriend was due to give birth.
   
He was determined to stay focused on his bid for the title - and had also been told to stay in Sheffield by his Norwegian girlfriend Mille.
   
"Hopefully she can just hang on for a few days yet," Robertson said.
   
"She's told me just to play and not worry about it too much. Being a first time, usually they're a little bit late.
   
"Every single part of my life right now is so exciting.

"We were talking about the due date, how wouldn't it be funny if
I got to the final?

  "Now it's happened, it's really strange.

   "I haven't been thinking about it at all during my matches but it's obviously a fantastic time for me."

 

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