Stephen Hendry likens Neil Robertson to "an invincible race machine," but Robertson still needs to build on the number of world championships he has won at the 2010 World Championships.
Text:Eurosport
Stephen Hendry described Neil Robertson as the best player in snooker, but he felt that multiple World Championship titles were a powerful weapon for Robertson to prove himself.
World No. 9 Hawkins lost 4-10 to Robertson in last month's Masters final, and the men met again in the final of the Players' Championship last Tuesday. Robertson won his third title of the season with an easy 10-5 victory over Hawkins at Wolfhampton.
Hawkins said after the game: "I didn't do anything wrong in the final, Neil was in too much of a form today. When someone plays like that, especially a player like Neil, it's hard to control him. He played well all day, really. ”
Although losing by a larger margin, Hawkins also scored 91, 55 and 61 points. Robertson, on the other hand, scored 107, 105, 130, 58, 64, 54, 116, 51 and 69 points in a high-quality shot, and deservedly won the championship.
Hendry said: "He (Robertson) exudes confidence, as if he were an inertia winner. Who can stop him? Neil Robertson proved by winning the championship why he is the best player in the world. He has everything at the moment. He was almost impossible to beat. ”
"You could say, well, Robertson started off with a 0-1 trail. Then he's always in the lead, which means it's harder for the trailing side to chase points, and he wins flawlessly. ”
"His bench was stable and accurate during the season and created a lot of scoring opportunities. That's why he has such a high scoring percentage that he often gets consecutive scoring opportunities through incredible bench goals. ”
"You can't say his safety ball is a weakness. I think he's really not as good as some people in some ways, but that's only a small part. ”
"It didn't bother him. He had everything he needed to win, and that record-breaking hunger. ”
Robertson celebrated his 40th birthday on Friday, and winning the Players Championship also put him and Judd Trump tied for 22 ranking titles, ranking sixth in all time.
Despite such brilliant results, Hendry believes Robertson did not have a more dazzling record on the stage of the World Championships. Robertson won his only World Championship title 12 years ago with an 18-13 victory over Graeme Dort. After that, Robertson only reached the semi-finals at the 2014 World Championships, losing 15-17 to Selby.
Robertson said after winning the Masters: "I don't like this venue (Crucible), from a technical point of view, [the narrow venue] makes it difficult for me to play, or actually say it can't be done at all. To make it to the second half of the World Championships, I still need to adjust, which is something I have to work on. ”
In response, Hendry said: "I think the only thing he needs to pay attention to at the moment is the World Championships. His world championship results have been very average in recent years, with only one title. With his strength, he should win more. ”
"The reason I single out the World Championship winners is because when everyone looks back on their careers, that's what they value most."
"In other respects, he is already 'an invincible machine.'"
"The desire for a championship is the most important thing to distinguish between top players and other players, and that kind of eagerness to win is not something that ordinary people can have. Neil's success rate in the final was so amazing. ”