Robertson eager for more

The Bexhill potter made his debut in the venue stage of a world ranking event when he lined-up in the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.

He said: “It was good to be there and obviously it was a good experience. Hopefully I will be better next time I get there. That’s where you want to be and I’ve got to start getting to a few venues now.”

Having done superbly to win three matches in the qualifiers, including bagging seven successive frames to beat 1997 champion Ken Doherty, Robertson lost 10-1 to Mark Selby in round one at The Crucible.

“It’s totally different to when you’re playing in a cubicle (at the qualifiers),” continued Robertson. “At the end of the day there’s a lot of pressure.

“I can’t really say the cameras affect you, but it’s just knowing that you’re going to be on the tele and having the crowd there. Put everything together and it changes it.”

Robertson, who is likely to move up to around 53rd in the rankings after the tournament is finished on Monday, won the opening frame only to lose the subsequent 10 at the famous Sheffield theatre.

Having had the chance to watch the match again, Robertson went on: “He didn’t play well really, but I just missed too many balls full stop. I had chances in every frame and I could’ve been 8-1 up.

“A fair result (at the end of the first session) probably would’ve been 5-4 either way, but nothing really was going my way. I just kept losing frames and it was hard to get over the line.”

The full article will appear in Friday’s Bexhill Observer.