The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsNeil Robertson has won the snooker UK Championship after defeating Liang Wenbo 10-5 and making a 147 break along the way.
It was the first final between two overseas players in the tournament’s history, and the Thunder from Down Under made the maximum break in the sixth frame of the match, the third in his career to become the first player to make one in a UK Championship final.
It was a match of high breaks, particularly in the first session where both Robertson and Liang achieved century breaks as the Australian got to 5-3 in front going into the interval. Robertson failed to run away with the match as much as he did in the semi-final against Mark Selby.
There was a look of focus and concentration on the face of Robertson but Liang seemed to come out of his shell in the match, playing with the crowd. This is a trait normally produced by Dechawat Poomjaeng and for a player who is usually quite reserved; this was surprising to see from Liang.
The next four frames of the match were distributed equally as both players took two each to make the score 7-5 in Robertson’s favour, but then the Australian took off and finished the game in style by winning the next three frames to claim a 10-5 victory.
Liang has played well throughout the tournament and although it was a surprise to see him in the final, he has deserved to get there. It was only his second ranking final but he is now in the top 16 of the world rankings.
Robertson proved too much however and he showed the quality of a true champion, winning the championship along with the £150,000 prize money and £44,000 bonus for making a maximum break.
