World Snooker Championship 2023: Neil Robertson swats away Wu Yize challenge with two 146 breaks to race into round two

Neil Robertson delivered a statement performance with two 146 breaks as he breezed into the second round of the World Championship with a 10-3 win over Wu Yize.

The Australian held firm in the face of a stiff test from Wu in the opening session to open up a 6-3 advantage despite his young opponent making two centuries, and it was a lead he never relinquished.

After a poor season by his own high standards, Robertson arrived in Sheffield somewhat under the radar.

But his performance in dominating Wu would have seen him flashing bright on the screens of his big rivals for Crucible glory.

Speaking afterwards, Robertson said: “That’s the best I’ve played here.

“For a debutant, he’s made two tons and an 80. I’ve played absolutely fantastic. The preparation is the best it’s ever been. I’ve done everything right. There has been no stone unturned his year. I’m not going to get tired.

“This can change your mindset. It is different to last year when I had a bit of mental fatigue. I’m not thinking that, I’m desperate to win. I get up early, practise early, go home and practise at night.

“Whatever happens, I’ve done all I can do.”

Robertson asserted his authority in the opening frame of the session. He took on and made a tough red with his first visit to the table and picked off a series of excellent pots in a break of exactly 100.

Wu has a fearless attitude and took on a tough, long red at the start of the 11th and was unfortunate to see it wobble in the jaws of the bottom left.

It fell invitingly for Robertson and at one stage he was dreaming of a 147 after picking off reds and blacks. But a rueful smile crossed his face as he ran slightly out of position when splitting a small cluster of reds, and had to take a pink.

The maximum was out of reach, but his concentration never wavered and he raced through a 146 to join Ryan Day at the head of the race for the high-break prize. 147s are the dream, but 146s are as rare and Robertson’s was only the fifth ever made at the Crucible.

The impressive total clearance in the 11th put a further feather in his cap, as Robertson is now the only player in Crucible history to have made a 147, 146 and 145 breaks at the Crucible.

Wu continued to play on the front foot and wowed the crowd with a dazzling three-ball plant from distance in the 12th. He was unfortunate not to drop on a colour and then had to sit in his chair and watch Robertson pick off a run of 58 to move within one frame of victory.

Robertson is a student of the game, well aware of stats, facts and figures.

And he wrote himself into the record books when closing out the win, as he claimed a second 146 in the match – to become the first person in the history of the game to achieve such a feat.

It also ate into Day’s share of the high-break prize, as the Australian is on course for two-thirds of the pot. On this sort of form, a 147 cannot be ruled out.

The World Championship is a 17-day slog, and conserving energy in the early stages could pay off later in the tournament; that would have been in Robertson’s thoughts as he wrapped up the win without the need for a second mini-session on Sunday.

Ali Carter became the first seed to fall, as Jak Jones claimed a 10-6 win to set up a clash with Neil Robertson in round two.

Jones went into Sunday’s final session with a 5-4 lead and he kept Carter at arm’s length all night.

The match turned Jones’ way for the final time when he won a 15th frame that lasted 50 minutes.

Carter appeared in command but his safety on the yellow gave Jones a sighter at the potting angle. He knocked it in and mopped up the colours to get within one frame of victory.

The winning line being in sight adds pressure, but Jones was aided by a string of errors from the cue of Carter as he closed out the win.

Mark Williams made the 76th century of his Crucible career, but he faces a battle to reach the second round after losing the first session 5-4 to Jimmy Robertson.

There were a number of uncharacteristic potting and positional errors, and they allowed Robertson to pinch a number of tight frames.

Williams’ best passage of play came in the eighth when he knocked in a superb 118 to draw level, but Robertson took the ninth to secure an overnight lead.

Luca Brecel secured a first career win at the Crucible when fending off a fightback from Ricky Walden to claim a 10-9 success.

He had lost two matches in deciding frames – and five in total at the first hurdle – and that was a distinct possibility again as Walden won three on the spin to force a final frame.

The Belgian was under the pump, and may have had memories of 2018 when he lost to Walden, but held his nerve superbly as a break of 84 booked a meeting with either Mark Williams or Jimmy Robertson in round two.

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