Neil Robertson didn’t turn up for his snooker qualifier. (Image: Getty.)
Not for the first time, has been forced to forfeit a match after an embarrassing error.
The Aussie was due to play Michael Holt on December 22 for a place at the World Open, taking place in China, as he looked to continue an impressive return to form.
However, when Holt turned up for his qualifying match at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, Robertson was nowhere to be found.
As Holt recalls, the 2010 world champion had forgotten what day he was supposed to be playing and gave up his place in China by default.
Holt had been fresh off a quarter-final berth but was suffering with illness in the build-up to their match, conceding in an post that he had considered Robertson the favourite to progress.
Only for Holt to be stood in the officials’ office and swiftly informed that Robertson had not turned up for their match, awarding a walkover to the world No. 83.
“It’s ten to seven, I’m in the office waiting to play and Gary Wilkinson’s [tournament official] phone rang. He picked his phone up and looked at me and went [Holt puts his thumb up],” Holt explained.
Michael Holt benefitted from Neil Robertson’s absence. (Image: Getty)
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“Basically, Neil forgot what day it was, he got the wrong date, which is a massive stroke of luck for me which meant I got a bye. So I’m going to China at the end of February. So yeah, that’s a massive bit of luck I had.”
Robertson has not commented publicly on the matter but he has missed out on the chance at another payday in Yushan, where he made the semi-finals last year and received £32,500.
The prize pool has been increased from a total £815k to £825k, the winner this year receiving £175k as is out to defend his crown.
For Robertson, it is the second such time he has been absent from the World Open qualifiers in unusual circumstances, having put the ‘wrong Barnsley’ into his sat-nav in 2019.
The Thunder from Down Under was set to play in Barnsley, Yorkshire, only to have instead driven to a village in Gloucestershire by the same name and missed his match against Ian Burns.
By the time that Robertson had realised his error, he was too far away from Yorkshire and would not be able to make it to the venue on time, handing Burns a bye into the main stages in Yushan.
For Robertson, however, he has recently been competing in an exhibition in Budapest having .