China challenge awaits Robertson

Robertson, 53rd on the latest world ranking list issued this week, will be jetting off to Hainan Island in China this weekend to compete in the Haikou World Open.

It’s the second time that the 25-year-old has reached the venue stage of a ranking event and first outside the UK having previously played in the Betfred.com World Championship in Sheffield last April.

As one of the eight lowest ranked qualifiers, Robertson, who runs O’Sullivan’s Snooker Club in Wickham Avenue with his family, will face Chinese amateur Zhou Yuelong in the first round on Monday.

Yuelong is very much an unknown quantity having never previously played in a World Snooker event, although he did lose 4-2 against world no.49 Xiao Guodong in the China National Championship last year.

Should Robertson come through his best-of-nine-frames opener, he will take on world no.10 Mark Allen in round one on Wednesday. The Northern Irishman, 26, was runner-up in the williamhill.com UK Championhip last December.

Robertson, a former English Amateur Champion, booked his place on the plane to the Far East by winning three matches in the qualfiers at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield last month.

See the Bexhill Observer for the full article.