Neil Robertson facts for kids
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Robertson at the 2015 German Masters
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| Born | 11 February 1982 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
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| Sport country |  Australia |
| Professional | 1998/1999, 2000–2002, 2003–present |
| Highest ranking | 1 (September–December 2010, June 2013–May 2014, July–August 2014, December 2014–January 2015) |
| Current ranking | 10 (as of 8 May 2018) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 24 |
| Minor-ranking | 4 |
| World Champion | 2010 |
Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player. He is a former world champion and a former world number one. Many people think he is one of the best snooker players ever.
Neil is the most successful player from outside the United Kingdom. He is also the only non-UK player to win snooker's special "Triple Crown". This means he has won the World Championship (in 2010), the Masters (in 2012 and 2022), and the UK Championship (in 2013, 2015 and 2020). He has won 24 major tournaments in his career. He has won at least one professional tournament every year from 2006 to 2022.
Neil is very good at making high scores in a single turn, called "breaks". He has made over 950 "century breaks" (scoring 100 points or more) in professional games. This includes five "maximum breaks" (scoring 147 points, the highest possible in one turn). He was the fourth player in snooker history to reach 900 century breaks. In the 2013–14 season, he was the first player to make 100 centuries in just one season. He finished with a record 103 centuries. Neil plays snooker with his left hand.
Contents
Neil Robertson's Snooker Journey
Starting Out in Snooker
Neil Robertson started his snooker journey when he was 14 years old. He became the youngest player to make a century break in an Australian competition. He began his professional career in the 1998/1999 season. When he was 17, he almost made it to the main part of the 1999 World Championship.
In July 2003, Neil won the World Under-21 Snooker Championship in New Zealand. This win helped him join the main professional snooker tour. In December, he won a special tournament to play in the 2004 Masters. There, he lost to the famous player Jimmy White in his first match.
Reaching the Top 16
In the 2004–05 season, Neil moved up to the top 32 players in the world. He reached the final stages of six out of eight tournaments. He even made it to the quarter-finals twice. At the 2005 Welsh Open, he beat Jimmy White and John Higgins. He then lost a very close match to Ronnie O'Sullivan. At the 2005 Malta Cup, he beat Mark Williams and Jimmy White again. He lost to John Higgins this time. At the end of the season, Neil played in the 2005 World Championship. He lost to Stephen Hendry in the first round.
In 2005–06, Neil kept getting better and entered the top 16 players. He reached his first semi-final at the 2005 Northern Ireland Trophy. He also made it to the quarter-finals of the 2005 UK Championship and the 2006 World Championship. In the World Championship, he almost made a big comeback against Graeme Dott but lost in the very last frame.
First Big Wins
Neil had a major breakthrough in the 2006–07 season. At the 2006 Grand Prix, he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals. He then won against Alan McManus to reach his first big final. He played against Jamie Cope and won 9–5, taking his first professional title! This win earned him £60,000, which was his biggest prize money at that time.
He then won the 2007 Welsh Open. He beat Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan again. In the final, he was losing 6–2 but came back to win 9–8 against Andrew Higginson. At the end of the season, he lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the 2007 World Championship.
Becoming World Champion
Neil started the 2008–09 season by winning the 2008 Bahrain Championship against Matthew Stevens. In the 2009 Masters, he and Stephen Maguire made a record of five century breaks in a row during their match. Neil reached the semi-finals of the 2009 World Championship for the first time. He beat Steve Davis, Ali Carter, and Stephen Maguire before losing to Shaun Murphy.
In October 2009, Neil won the 2009 Grand Prix by beating Ding Junhui. This was his fourth title, making him the most successful non-UK player in ranking tournaments. On April 1, 2010, Neil made his first official maximum break (147 points) in a match.
At the 2010 World Championship, Neil had an amazing run. He came back from far behind to beat Martin Gould. He then defeated Steve Davis and Ali Carter to reach the final. In the final, he beat Graeme Dott 18–13. This made him the first Australian to become world champion in the modern era of snooker! This win also made him the world number two player.
Life as World Number One
After becoming world champion, Neil won the World Open in 2010. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–1 in the final. This win made him the eighth world number one player in snooker history. He reached the quarter-finals of the UK Championship and the Masters. He lost in the first round of the 2011 World Snooker Championship while trying to defend his title.
In the 2011–12 season, Neil won two smaller tournaments called PTC events. He then reached his first semi-final at the UK Championship. Neil won the 2012 Masters by beating Shaun Murphy 10–6 in the final. He became only the fourth non-UK player to win this event. He later lost in the quarter-finals of the China Open and the World Championship.
More Titles and Records
In the 2012–13 season, Neil won the Gdynia Open. He also reached the final of the International Championship, but lost to Judd Trump. He then won his seventh major ranking event, the China Open, by beating Mark Selby. This made him world number two again.
In May 2013, Neil made his second official maximum break. He then won his eighth ranking title at the Wuxi Classic. He almost won back-to-back tournaments but lost in the final of the Australian Goldfields Open. On December 8, 2013, he beat Mark Selby to win the UK Championship. This made him the first player from outside the UK to win all three "Triple Crown" events.
In January 2014, Neil broke a record by making 63 century breaks in one season. He kept going and reached 100 century breaks in the World Championship quarter-finals. He finished the season with an amazing 103 centuries. He reached the semi-finals of the World Championship but lost to Mark Selby.
Recent Seasons and Achievements
Neil continued to win titles in the 2014–15 season. He won the 2014 Wuxi Classic again and reached the final of the Australian Goldfields Open. He also reached the final of the Masters but lost to Shaun Murphy. He won another Gdynia Open title, his third title in Poland.
In the 2015–16 season, Neil won the Champion of Champions and his second UK Championship title. In the UK Championship final, he made a 147 break, becoming the first player to do so in a Triple Crown final. He reached the final of the Welsh Open but lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Neil won the Riga Masters in the 2016–17 season. He also won the 2017 Hong Kong Masters and the Scottish Open in the 2017–18 season. He won the 2018 Riga Masters again and the Welsh Open in the 2018–19 season. He also won the China Open.
In the 2019–20 season, Neil won the Champion of Champions for the second time. He also won the European Masters and the World Grand Prix. He reached world number two again.
In the 2020–21 season, Neil won his third UK Championship title, beating Judd Trump. He also won the 2021 Tour Championship, defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan.
In the 2021–22 season, Neil won the English Open, becoming the first player to win three different Home Nations titles. He won the Masters for the second time. He also won the Players Championship and defended his Tour Championship title. At the World Championship, he made his fifth maximum break but lost a very close match.
In the 2022–23 season, Neil decided to play in fewer tournaments. He said, "I've got a young family now so I don't need to play in every tournament these days. My family is really important to me, they're my inspiration to win." He won the World Mixed Doubles with his partner Mink Nutcharut.
The first half of the 2023–24 season was tough for Neil. He took a break to go home to Australia because he was feeling homesick. This meant his streak of winning at least one ranking title every year since 2006 ended. He also fell out of the top 16 world rankings for the first time since 2006.
In the 2024–25 season, Neil reached the quarter-finals of the first-ever Saudi Arabia Masters. He then won the English Open, his first ranking title in over two years. This win helped him get back into the world's top 16 players.
Neil Robertson's Life Outside Snooker
Neil Robertson was born in Melbourne, Australia. His parents, Ian Robertson and Alison Hunter, are from Britain. He has a younger brother, Marc, who also plays snooker and pool. Neil went to Norwood Secondary College in Ringwood. He now lives in Cambridge, England.
Neil is married to Mille Fjelldal from Norway. They met in 2008 and got married in August 2021. They have two children: a son named Alexander, born in 2010, and a daughter named Penelope, born in 2019. Neil has talked about supporting his wife with her anxiety and depression. He also shared how these challenges sometimes affected his focus on snooker.
Since 2014, Neil has been a vegan. He decided to eat only plant-based foods after getting advice from fellow snooker player Peter Ebdon. He also did his own research on vegan athletes like Carl Lewis.
In 2016, Neil became an ambassador for a snooker app called Snooker Live Pro. He used to love playing video games, but he stopped in 2017. He felt he was spending too much time gaming and it was affecting his snooker performance. Neil is also a big football fan and supports Chelsea F.C.. He is friends with former England footballer John Terry.
Neil Robertson's Career Wins
Neil Robertson has won many important snooker tournaments. Here are some of his biggest wins:
Major Ranking Titles (24 wins)
- Grand Prix: 2006, 2009, 2010 (as World Open)
- Welsh Open: 2007, 2019
- Bahrain Championship: 2008
- World Championship: 2010
- China Open: 2013, 2019
- Wuxi Classic: 2013, 2014
- UK Championship: 2013, 2015, 2020
- Riga Masters: 2016, 2018
- Scottish Open: 2017
- European Masters: 2020
- World Grand Prix: 2020
- English Open: 2021, 2024
- Tour Championship: 2021, 2022
- Players Championship: 2022
Smaller Ranking Titles (4 wins)
- Warsaw Classic: 2011
- Alex Higgins International Trophy: 2011
- Gdynia Open: 2012, 2015
Special Invitation Titles (7 wins)
- Masters Qualifying Event: 2003
- The Masters: 2012, 2022
- General Cup: 2012
- Champion of Champions: 2015, 2019
- Hong Kong Masters: 2017
Team Titles (2 wins)
- World Mixed Doubles Championship: 2008 (with Reanne Evans)
- World Mixed Doubles: 2022 (with Nutcharut Wongharuthai)
Images for kids
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Robertson at the 2013 German Masters
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See also
In Spanish: Neil Robertson para niños
