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The Welsh Open main tournament will take place from 28 February to 6 March, when the top 16 players, including Robertson, will make their debuts in the deferred qualifying round.
Robertson is undoubtedly the most popular player this season, and he just turned his 40th birthday last Friday and has won three titles this season: the English Open, the Masters and the Players' Championship.
Australians first entered the profession in 1998 and failed. However, he regained his professional qualification in 2003 and has never moved forward ever since. He currently holds 22 ranking titles and has a career title every year since 2006.
In 2003, Robertson qualified professionally for the U21 World Championships in New Zealand, moving from Melbourne to Cambridge, England. Robertson's training partners at the time included future Masters runner-up Joe Perry, and the two have been friends ever since. Robertson is known for his terrifying bench and scoring ability, but Perry believes the key to the Australian's success at snooker is a uniquely confident and calm peace.
"Neil settled in Cambridge not because of me, but a good player named Phil Menford who ran a club at the time. Phil spent a year in Australia and said to a few people ' Why don't you guys come to Cambridge, Joe Perry is there.' ’”
"The results were good. A lot of professional players don't give you time, and I know that as I make my way to the top of my career. ”
"It's all about themselves. They are selfish and rightfully concerned about the first, but it's not me. Luckily for Neil, that's not my character. I gave him a lot of time. ”
"It also benefits me because he's a very good player and you can see his potential. I let him play my table, and I rearrange the table four or five times a season because every time I come home, the Boys in Australia play non-stop. ”
"They're penniless, they can't afford to make money. I don't care because I like combat training. What I did helped him and he went all the way forward to become a snooker player of excellence. ”
Earlier this year, Robertson won the Masters again a decade later, winning hawkins 10-4 in the final. On Sunday, Robertson beat Hawkins 10-5 in the Players Championship final, sixteen years after he won the Grand Prix in 2006 with a 9-5 victory over Cope and unlocked the first title in the rankings.
"You can see him improving month by month, going to the next level every season. You could have expected him to be good, but you didn't know if he would be a part of the historical players. ”
"He just worked tirelessly. He knows who he wants to be, and he's always making changes. It's nice to see these things I haven't taught him. ”
"I want to have his character. I think luck is greater than judgment. I don't think you can make yourself like Neil. His heart is full of faith, a positive attitude and a calm mind. I think it's his luck. ”
At the 2014 Wuxi Classic, Robertson and Perry brought an epic final. Perry arrived at match point 9-8 and was close to his first ranking title, but Robertson scored a single shot of 87 and 78 points to reverse the game 10-9 to win his 10th ranking title.
"I was really excited in the end," Robertson burst into tears after the game, "people may think it's because I won the championship, but it's actually because the opponent is Joe (Perry), who came to the beginning of my career." ”
"It's great to be able to win the final, but without Joe Perry, I wouldn't be who I am today. He's a great friend, a great person. ”
Perry said at the time: "I'm sorry for Neil, he couldn't enjoy such an important win. This shows exactly what kind of person he is. As long as he wants to win, he will become ruthless, like the last two sets of the final. But then he realized that he had beaten his good friend, the one he admired, and the most important match of my career so far. ”
The 48-year-old Perry, who is ranked eighth in his career, reached the final four of the World Championships in 2008 and the second place in the Masters in 2017. In 2015, Perry won his only ranking title in a 4-3 victory over Williams in the PTC Finals. From 2001 to 2018, Perry also finished runners-up in four ranking tournaments (including a loss to Carter in the 2016 World Open final).
Perry, currently ranked 41st in the world, will face Gilbert in the Welsh Open qualifier and China's Cao Yupeng in the first round of the European Masters next week. Robertson will play Chinese player Lei Peifan in the postponement of the European Masters qualifying match.