English Open 2021: 'As a kid I idolised John' - Neil Robertson pays tribute to Higgins after final win

ByAlex Livie

Updated 08/11/2021 at 07:01 GMT

“As a kid I idolised John as a player and I dreamt of meeting him so to be standing here sharing a table with him in a final is just incredible," Neil Robertson said after beating John Higgins the final of the English Open. “It is fine margins and I had to dig in as he came out all guns blazing tonight."

Neil Robertson paid tribute to John Higgins after emerging victorious in a final-frame decider to win the English Open.

Higgins suffered the agony of defeat in a Home Nations Series event for the second time in three weeks, having been beaten 9-8 by Mark Allen in the Northern Ireland Open.

An emotional Higgins said he feels he no longer has it in him to compete at the top echelon, drawing sympathy and applause from the Milton Keynes crowd who clearly feel that is not the case.

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Higgins also had praise for Robertson, who was emotional on the back of the Scot's comments

“After those words from John, I am doing well to keep it all together,” Robertson said on Eurosport. “As a kid I idolised John as a player and I dreamt of meeting him, so to be standing here sharing a table with him in a final is just incredible.”

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Higgins had a chance in the decider, but ran out of position and Robertson admitted the final could have gone the other way.

Robertson said: “I know what he was saying, he had a chance in the final frame and was unlucky with that cannon.

“It is fine margins and I had to dig in as he came out all guns blazing tonight.

“I did not do a lot wrong and he played some great stuff.

“I found something from somewhere and played my best snooker towards the end of the match.”

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