Neil Robertson held off a remarkable Wu Yize fightback to clinch his first ranking title in over two years with a 9-7 victory in the English Open final in Brentwood.
Robertson stormed into a 7-1 lead on Sunday afternoon, finishing the session in style with two century breaks, to put him in prime position to land his first ranking tournament crown since the 2022 Tour Championship.
But, Wu had other ideas and – while producing what Robertson called one of the best spells of snooker he has ever seen – almost completed the unlikeliest of comebacks before the former world number one eventually won the frame he needed to clinch victory.
Coming back for the evening session, Wu showed he was up for the battle with an opening 127 break to get a second frame on the board, but Robertson responded by winning the next and a quick end to the final looked in store.
However, Robertson did not post a point in the next two frames as Wu recorded another century break (135) before winning the next 85-0 to make it 8-4.
The 20-year-old Chinese was still up against it but, following the mid-session interval, he picked up where left off and managed to reduce the gap to 8-7 as he continued his superb run of form.
He could not get any closer though and Robertson held his nerve after building a break of 55 in the 16th frame, with Wu conceding at 61-16 down as the Australian celebrated a victory that lifts him back into the world's top 16.
Robertson heaped praise on his opponent after the final, saying on Eurosport: "He completely froze me out. He played the best snooker I’ve ever seen in a five or six-frame spell. I hardly did anything wrong at all. He played some inspired stuff.
"You start thinking about runners-up speeches and how humble you’re going to have to be after being 8-2 in front.
"This means everything. My dad’s here and he’s never even see me play in a final before and I’ve been a pro for 20 years. He’s never been in the country when I’ve been doing well.
"This is the first title I can win in front of him. I’ve won over 30 tournaments but this is the first I’ve won with him here and that means the world to me."
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