Neil Robertson is aiming for a big season in 2018/19 as he starts out on a journey with a new cue for the first time in his professional career.

The Australian, world champion in 2010, has suffered an up and down time of things over recent seasons. He missed The Masters in January having dropped out of the world’s top-16, while he was eliminated from the World Championship in Sheffield at the first hurdle by Robert Milkins. He also managed to win the Hong Kong Masters and Scottish Open last season. He starts out at the Riga Masters qualifying in Preston this week with a new cue and recharged batteries, and Robertson is full of optimism as he looks ahead to the 2018/19 season.

Replacing his cue was a big moment, but the man known as the ‘Thunder from Down Under’ admits it was a necessary move given the struggles with his old one. “I’d had the previous one for 20 years and I have been suffering with it for the past few seasons. It had lost about 20 per-cent of the power I had with it six or seven years ago, and there was some damage to it at the top near the tip,” he told World Snooker. “It’s a very hard decision to change cues but as there is a bit of a break before the new season starts I felt this was a good time.”

With no action since the Crucible finished in early May, Robertson is in a good place starting the new term. “Very happy – I think all of the players really appreciate the fact that we have had a proper break this time, with no tournaments for a couple of months since the World Championship,” he added.

Robertson is 1.17 to win his opening match in Preston against Luo Honghao, who is 4.75 for the upset victory.