UK Championship 2020 - 'I could have done amazing things' - Neil Robertson admits career regret

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 02/12/2020 at 18:52 GMT

After reaching the quarter-finals of the UK Championship, Neil Robertson wondered what might have been if he had moved to England sooner than he did. The Australian has won 18 rankings titles, including four Triple Crown titles, but believes he could have enjoyed even more success if his career had started differently.

Neil Robertson believes he could have "done amazing things” in his career if he had moved from Australia to the UK earlier.

Robertson turned professional in 1998 but didn’t start to challenge at the top events until a few years later after moving to Cambridge.

He is now one of the best players in the game and is rivalling world No 1 Judd Trump for ranking titles and century breaks.

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But he told Eurosport that he has some regret that he didn’t get the chance to play more competitive snooker as a youngster.

“It’s probably a shame I didn’t grow up playing snooker in the UK until I was 21,” he said.

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“Put an 11 or 12-year-old Neil Robertson in the UK doing practice sessions with the likes of Jimmy [White] and I would like to think I could have done some amazing things in the game.”

Robertson has won 18 rankings titles, including four Triple Crown titles – one ahead of Trump – while making 748 career centuries.

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“Even though my career has been outstanding, just starting when you are 21 you are always playing catch-up with the all-time greats,” he said after his last-16 win over Anthony McGill at the UK Championship.

“The only reason I turned pro was because I got to the semi-finals of a tournament at my club. I don’t really see it as I turned pro in 1998, I see it as when I came to Cambridge in 2003 and since then I have done really well.

“Part of me will always look back and wonder if I came to the UK when I was 13 or 14 and could have practised with the great players I probably could have achieved what I have done in the game at a much earlier age and then gone on to win more events.

“But saying that I have to take the career I have, without a doubt.”

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