Robertson Overcomes Scare Against Wu Yize to Claim English Open Title
Neil Robertson and Wu Yize put on a show at the Brentwood Centre in the English Open final.
Few fans would have given Wu a chance after he ended the afternoon session 7-1 down.
However, the 20-year-old showed his quality and made a real fight of it against his Australian rival. Robertson eventually came out on top, but Wu’s defiant display will live long in the memory.
Neil Robertson survived a scare in the evening session to defeat Wu Yize 9-7 and win the English Open for a second time.
The ‘Thunder from Down Under’ put on a sensational display to storm into a 7-1 lead during the afternoon session, but Wu refused to give in during a closely fought contest.
Robertson defeated John Higgins in the final in 2021 and is the third player to have won the tournament twice, following in the footsteps of Judd Trump and Mark Selby.
Hot-favourite Robertson seemed to be in the ascendency at the end of the afternoon session after hitting a match-best break of 138 to extend his advantage to six frames.
That meant he returned for the evening’s action at the Brentwood Centre needing two more frames to wrap up the win, but Wu would not go down without a fight.
He played his best snooker of the match, hitting a break of 127 to reduce the deficit to five.
Both players exchanged a number of safety shots at the start of the 10th frame, and even when the table opened up, neither could capitalise.
Robertson eventually took control, producing what turned out to be a crucial visit of 40 to restore his six-frame lead and take one step closer to victory.
However, Wu played a thunderous shot to pot a red from range before going on to register his second century of the evening to make it 8-3.
He followed that up with a break of 82 to send it to the interval with the score at 8-4.
It was more of the same from Wu when the players returned, as he took the 13th following a break of 73 to boost his hopes of a remarkable comeback.
Those hopes of a comeback turned into a real chance when Wu took the 14th with a sublime break of 95 to move within two of levelling the match.
Wu got a bit of luck on his way to a half-century in the 15th, and despite giving Robertson a route back into it, he held his nerve to claim his fifth consecutive frame.
However, it was not to be – despite getting in in the 16th with a stunning red and outrageous fluke of a black.
Robertson joked with the crowd after finally building some momentum courtesy of a fluke and left Wu needing a snooker after a break of 55.
The 20-year-old kept fighting, but the snooker did not come, and Robertson potted a red to seal the victory for his first title since 2022.