Champion of Champions Day 3

Image: Monique Limbos

Neil Robertson joins Mark Selby and Stuart Bingham in the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions Tournament with a thrilling 6-5 win over Ali Carter in Group 2. The quarter final saw some top draw snooker produced by both players in the opening stages with a staggering five centuries during the first seven frames.

German Masters champion Carter took the opener with an impressive 112 which was then eclipsed by Robertson who knocked in a 119 in the next. Carter then won the next two to lead 3-1 at the interval but Robbo hit back in style with a break of 105 and was then on course for a maximum in the sixth but came unstuck on an extremely thin final black, with the break ending on 113. Carter edged back in front with a 127 in the next but Robertson remained in touch, with a 52 break seeing him level at 4-4. The Australian then took the lead for the first time by winning the ninth on the colours but Carter forced a decider with a 72. The Captain looked set to clinch the final frame until he missed the final green, allowing Robertson to clear to pink to secure the match.

The Australian, current China Open and Wuxi Classic champion, had performed an excellent comeback earlier in the day, coming back from 3-1 down to beat Martin Gould 4-3. After sharing the first two frames, Championship League winner Gould went within a frame of victory when he won frames three and four. However, Robertson dug deep and Gould had nothing to reply against breaks of 77, 129 and 112 from the Aussie.

Carter also had to come through a final frame decider to defeat Haikou World Open champion Mark Allen. The Ulsterman took the opening two with runs of 58 and 54 but Carter drew level with breaks of 77 and 68. The next two were shared but Carter controlled the seventh to complete the win.