Neil Robertson feels he is reaping the rewards of hard graft as he prepares to take on John Higgins in the Dafabet Scottish Open semi-finals on Saturday. Robertson was pushed all the way by 28-year-old Chinese star Xiao Guodong in their last-eight clash before coming through 5-4 after rallying from 2-1 down with consecutive breaks of 114 and 128. It has not been the best of seasons for the Australian, with just one title to his name in Hong Kong, while a run to the quarter-finals of the English Open is the best he has to show for his efforts in ranking events.
However, the 2010 world champion feels his game has improved significantly in recent times and, priced at 13/10 to win the match, he sent out a warning to his peers that he means business. “The last couple of months, with the amount of practice I am doing, I am seeing my game reach another level, particularly in the scoring department,” he said. “I feel as if I am playing better than I ever have done. If I keeper producing these kind of performances, opponents know that if they miss, I am going to clear the table.” Sitting in the opposite chair at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena will be home favourite Higgins, who warmed up for the clash by whitewashing Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0.
The 42-year-old four-time world champion is looking for his second ranking title of the year after winning in India and is on offer at 3/5 to advance to the final. Despite his advancing years, the ‘Wizard of Wishaw’ is still a regular visitor to the business end of events and has three quarter-final appearances this season while he made it to the last four of the Shanghai Masters.
Dafabet Scottish Open odds available at Dafabet.