Neil Robertson has hit back at commentators he says have no idea what it’s like to play Judd Trump (Image: Getty)
has told snooker pundits that they have no idea what it is like to play against following criticism of his antics against The Ace earlier this month. Trump led complaints about Robertson taking too long between shots during their Champion of Champions clash earlier this month, in which the Scot triumphed.
Robertson faced Trump again at the UK Championship this week, but this time lost 6-3. Some commentators used the occasion to reflect on criticism of the 42-year-old earlier this month. But one fan pointed out that some of the commentary was “unfair” on Robertson.
The Australian responded to the X post by pointing out that Trump is the hardest to beat of his generation of snooker stars. He said: “Judd’s all round game is incredible and most of our matches are tight affairs.
“Pundits who aren’t involved in these types of matches have no clue how hard he is to break down, there has never been a harder player to BEAT in our sport period. The conditions played a huge part for both of us which lead [sic] to the frames being the way they were.
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“Judd and I could play all out attack but at that point we are both tossing a coin who is going to win 6-1 or 6-2. In general for me I had to establish being really hard to beat again (which I’ve done) as I was way too attacking the last 2 seasons and was getting picked off. The fluency will come back but having the base 1st to be hard to get chances against was the priority.”
It comes following criticism from Trump, who said after their match: “It was a tough game, it was very slow. I love Neil, but there was a lot of slow play and he’s a much better player when he just gets on with it.”
Robertson accepted that a timer could be a good way of speeding up players. He revealed that he also received criticism from Joe Perry recently.
Judd Trump criticised Neil Robertson’s speed earlier this month (Image: Getty)
“I’m definitely not slower on purpose,” said Robertson. “It’s always a hindrance to anyone’s game. Maybe there’s one or two players who play slow on purpose, but me, definitely not.
“Joe gave me a bit of a grilling when I was on a blue in the last frame and I was trying too hard to get perfect on the next red and I took, like, a minute-and-a-half over a shot. It’s crazy to spend that much time on a shot. It’s way too long.
“That’s why I think it would help with a timer. Not a shot clock that beeps, but something you can see. If it went to 30 seconds and the ref told you it’s been 30 seconds then I’d have just dropped the blue in.”