'Lucky' Robertson scrapes victory over Fu - 05/11/2009

Marco Fu 2-4 Neil Robertson (best of 6)
Fu's scores first
54-14, 19-84 (Robertson 42), 41-71 (Fu 34, Robertson 36), 95-0 (Fu 90), 63-70 (Robertson 50), 58-60 (Fu 36, Robertson 31)

NEIL Robertson was gifted victory as he clawed a scrappy 4-2 win over struggling Marco Fu. Robertson was 3-2 up but needed a snooker in the last frame when Fu made a careless mistake and pocketed the cue ball to give Robertson the chance of a hard-earned win.

"I got really lucky," admitted Robertson, who moves into the top four but has played a game more than fifth-placed Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy in sixth spot. "I had to win tonight - it didn't matter how. I still have a slim chance of getting into the semi-finals but I still have a bit of work to do."

The latest round of matches came from the Riverside Leisure Centre in Exeter and the opening encounter featured two players who had an uphill task to reach the last four. Bottom of the table Marco Fu met sixth-placed Neil Robertson and the pair showed why they have struggled in a poor opening frame.

Fu's 22 was the highest break of the opener and the man from Hong Kong claimed a hugely scrappy frame that lasted nearly half hour. Legendary commentator Clive Everton summed up the proceedings when he said: "Unfortunately that was one of the worst frames the Premier League has ever seen."

Luckily the contest soon improved and Robertson levelled things by claiming the second in what was a must-win match for the Australian. Both players had breaks of more than 30 in the third but Robetson moved 2-1 ahead by taking it 71-41.

There was an injection of class in the fourth frame as Fu claimed a break of 90, easily the highest of the match so far. However, things could have been a lot better for Fu as he missed the last red while using the rest as he was closing in on his first century break of the 2009 competition.

A dramatic fifth frame saw a respotted black ball, which Robertson sunk in style by doubling it to move 3-2 ahead with one frame of the match left. However, Fu should have clinched a point but threw away the opportunity.

Fu had Robertson needing one snooker but instead of leaving the green ball over the pocket, overhit it and went in-off. But there was still work for Robertson to do and he won it in style as he doubled the black into the middle pocket for a 4-2 victory.