Neil Robertson plays bizarre ‘left field’ shot during Scottish Open victory: ‘I can’t believe what I’ve just seen’

Leading 22-16 in the fifth frame and 3-1 in the match, the Australian took one minute and 20 seconds to consider his next shot as he looked for a safety. What followed next, however, left Phillip Studd and Neal Foulds in the Eurosport commentary box stunned.

He rammed the white in the yellow-pocket jaws to send it up the table, leaving his opponent with a simple red to pot. Jain, however, was unable to take full advantage as he ultimately lost the frame.

“What’s he doing here?” said an astonished Foulds.

“Well, I can’t believe what I’ve just seen here. How was that his shot?

“I defy any other player on the tour to have even thought about going that way. I have no words.”

Studd added: “Well, he was clearly struggling to think of a way out of that predicament. Something a bit left field.”

“Maybe it was, but that wasn’t in the top 1,000 ways of hitting it because it was a total guess, wasn’t it?” continued Foulds.

Asked to explain his reasoning for the shot in the Eurosport studio at the conclusion of the match, Robertson said: “I tried actually to pot the red. I thought, ‘wow, this could be the shot of the century if it comes off’.

“If I could have gone for like a one in 30 pot I would have but there was no pot on either. So, I just thought, ‘well, just play that, maybe get the red away from the pocket and then the white might stay in that corner’. But yeah, it looked terrible.”

Robertson will play Joe Perry in the third round of the Scottish Open following his unconvincing win over Jain.

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