Solid Fu heads to Hopton - 04/11/2010

Neil Robertson 2 – 4 Marco Fu
82 (70) – 44 (34), 12 – 77 (35), 57 (57) – 58 (33), 82 (40) – 83, 39 – 74 67), 90 (90) -28

Marco Fu, the 2003 Premier League Champion, ensured a smooth passage into this year’s semi-finals with a 4 – 2 win over World Champion Neil Robertson at Hutton Moor Leisure Centre, Weston Super Mare.

The match was the last of Fu’s League campaign and with three wins and two draws from his six starts, he can be pleased with his work and the £21,000 of prize money he has earned so far and will be looking to add to at Potters Leisure Resort at the end of the month.

For Robertson, a single win from his four matches to date was not the sort of start he was looking and he now needs to win his final two matches to join Fu in the last four.

The match never really caught fire, but that won’t matter to the Hong Kong-based Fu, who stuck to the task and his never-say-die attitude saw him steal two critical frames on the black.

Robertson put in a poor showing, missing plenty of long pots, whilst Fu claimed his share of them and was superior in all departments.

The Aussie took the opener with a break of 70 but Fu levelled it as he ground out the second. The Hong Kong-based Fu stole the third frame on the black as Robertson missed frame ball, the black off the spot.

Fu did the same again in the fourth, nicking an amazingly high scoring frame by 83-82 to take both point and assure himself a place in the play-offs which take place at Potters Leisure Resort on 27th and 28th November.

He sealed the win with his best break of the evening – a run of 67 – before Robertson took the final frame with a break of 90 but it was a case of too little, too late.

“I’m delighted with the result and now I’ve won three and drawn two in my six League matches, “said Fu.

“A win is a win but sometimes you don’t play well. Neil didn’t take his chances and I was struggling but took my chances when they came.

“The third was a massive frame. He should have won it but he missed the black and you just have to take advantage of the misses,” he added.