Neil Robertson - 2009 Grand Prix
Neil Robertson beat China's Ding Junhui 9-4 to win the Grand Prix in Glasgow and become the first player from outside Britain & Ireland to win four ranking titles.
It was also the first ranking final between two non-British players since 1985: when Silvino Francisco beat Kirk Stevens to win the 1985 British Open.
It was Neil's second Grand Prix title; his first was in 2006 when he beat Jamie Cope.
And it was the first time that the 27 year old Australian player had beaten a top 16 ranking player in a final. His previous ranking victories were: the 2006 Grand Prix, the 2007 Welsh Open and the 2008 Bahrain Championship.
For Ding it was his first ranking event final for 38 months and the first one he had lost.
'I've won the Grand Prix twice now, which is our third-biggest ranking event, and I'd like to win one of the UK, Masters and World Championship titles to put myself up there as a top player,' said Neil.
Robertson set out in attacking form, taking the first two frames with a break of 124 in the first. Ding recovered to pull back to 2-2, taking the fifth frame with a 112 break to go 3-2 ahead.
Robertson replied by winning the next two frames with a 108 in the 6th to go 4-3 ahead, before Ding snatched one back to level 4-4 at the end of the afternoon session.
The first frame in the evening session lasted 57 minutes. Robertson was struggling to pull away from Ding, but after Ding missed an easy pot to a top corner with the rest, Robertson executed superb pots on brown, blue and pink to regain the lead at 5-4.
'We're both very attacking players so I decided to tighten it up a bit and get him out of his rhythm. I was confident that my cue action would stand up under pressure, and my game plan worked perfectly. The frame to go 5-4 up was massive, I felt confident after that,' added Neil.
Ding's resolve crumbled and Robertson won the 10th opened a two-frame gap for the first time since 2-0.
Ding led 30-0 in the 11th but when he missed a short range red, Robertson built a 54-34 lead, then, after a tactical exchange, slotted in a plant on the 12th red and added the points he needed for a 7-4 interval advantage.
The key ball in frame 12 was a missed pink to a centre pocket from Ding at 21-26. Robertson made a handy 32, including a double on the penultimate red to a centre pocket, to go four up with five to play.
A composed break of 89 in the 13th struck the final blow to seal victory.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The tournament that is today generally known as the Grand Prix, had a mixed beginning, starting life as the Professional Players Tournament in the 1982/83 season. Before this only one event was a ranking event and that was the World Championship. However the WPBSA now decided to award the Jameson International, ranking event staus and to promote a 'new' ranking event which became the Professional Players Tournament.
In 1984 the event became sponsored by Rothmans and the tournament was given a new name along with its new sponsor, it became the Rothmans Grand Prix and was now televised by the BBC. The first event took place at The Hexagon, Reading where it remained until Rothmans withdrew its sponsorship in 1992. The first event was won by Dennis Taylor when he beat Cliff Thorburn 10-2. Dennis later that season went on to win the World Championship in that memorable 'black ball' final against Steve Davis
2000 Mark Williams
Next year's final saw Steve Davis become the winner in another tussle against Taylor as he beat him 10-9 . The following year Rex Williams who turned professional in 1951, became the oldest player to reach a ranking final and in a now famous display of surrender Williams waved his towel on the end of his cue to concede victory to an up and coming Jimmy White just seven years a professional.
Over the next five years the trophy was passed between Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry with Hendry taking 3 of the 5 titles. The following year in 1992 Jimmy White beat Ken Doherty 10-9 to draw to a close Rothmans sponsorship of the event.
In 1993 it was taken over by Skoda and moved to Derby becoming the Skoda Grand Prix. Ken Doherty again lost in the final, this time 9-6 to Peter Ebdon. Skoda continued its sponsorship for another two years, with John Higgins in the final on both occasions, winning his first title as a professional in 1994 and losing the second in 1995 to Hendry.
From 1996 until 2001 the event was unsponsored. In 1998 the event moved to the Guild Hall, Preston replacing the long established UK Championship which was moved to the Bournemouth International Centre. The Grand Prix remained at Preston until 2000 when it was moved to Telford.
In 2001 a new sponsor was found for the event, although under the new three year banner of the LG Cup the tournament lost its identity as the Grand Prix, but to the majority of fans it was still the same event, it also returned to the Guild Hall from Telford.
The innaugural event under LG saw Ronnie O'Sullivan complete his fifth maximum and Stephen Lee get his second ranking event title when he beat Peter Ebdon 9-4. The match was memorable as it was the first time the two players had met after Ebdon's triumphant chanting during his 13-12 World Championship victory which had infuriated Lee.
In 2002 Scottish player Chris Small defied the odds and surprised everyone, except probably himself, as he won his first and only ranking event title of his eleven year career, beating fellow Scot Alan McManus in a tense 9-5 victory.
In the final year of LG's sponsorship Mark Williams completed a Grand Slam of BBC tournaments, winning the World, UK, Masters and LG Cup, as he beat John Higgins 9-5. Higgins also made his name in the event by becoming only the second player, following Stephen Hendry, to compile a maximum break in a major final
In 2004 the event returned to its better known title of the Grand Prix, again with a new sponsor and became known as the Totesport Grand Prix again being held at Preston. Ronnie O'Sullivan provided a spectacular display to defeat local hero Ian McCulloch 9-5
O'Sullivan appeared in the final again the following year this time against John Higgins. But John outclassed him in a display of snooker that hammered Ronnie 9-2 and earned him his third Grand Prix title and rewrote snooker’s record books in the process.
In the final Higgins made four consecutive centuries from frames seven to ten, the first time any player has achieved that in competitive play. It was a truly mesmerising performance from the Scot who also broke the all-time record for unanswered points. He scored 494 without reply, bettering Stephen Hendry’s record of 487 set at the 1996 Masters against Jimmy White.
In 2006 the event again had a new sponsor - The Royal London Watches Grand Prix - a new venue, Aberdeen and this time a new format as it changed to a 'round robin' event until the last 16. It also had a new winner in Australian Neil Robertson who beat Jamie Cope 9-5 another surprising finalist. It made history also because Robertson became the first Australian player ever to win a world ranking event.
The 2007 event had a surprise winner as Hong Kong's Marco Fu beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 to claim the first ranking title of his ten year career. Fu admitted afterwards that there were times when he feared he would never win a ranking title. The 29 year old became the third Asian player to win a world ranking title, the other two being China's Ding Junhui and Thailand's James Wattana.
In 2009 Australian Neil Robertson beat China's Ding Junhui 9-4 in Glasgow and become the first player from outside Britain & Ireland to win four ranking titles. It was also the first ranking final between two non-British players since 1985: when Silvino Francisco beat Kirk Stevens to win the 1985 British Open. The event was unsponsored, as London Watches had finished their three year sponsorship deal.
| 2009 - Neil Robertson bt D.Junhui 9-4 | 1995 - Stephen Hendry bt J.Higgins 9-5 |
| 2008 - John Higgins bt R.Day 9-7 | 1994 - John Higgins bt D.Harold 9-6 |
| 2007 - Marco Fu bt R.O'Sullivan 9-6 | 1993 - Peter Ebdon bt K.Doherty 9-6 |
| 2006 - Neil Robertson bt J.Cope 9-5 | 1992 - Jimmy White bt K.Doherty 10-9 |
| 2005 - John Higgins bt R.O'Sullivan 9-2 | 1991 - Stephen Hendry bt S.Davis 10-6 |
| 2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan bt I.McCulloch 9-5 | 1990 - Stephen Hendry bt N.Bond 10-5 |
| 2003 - Mark Williams bt J.Higgins 9-5 | 1989 - Steve Davis bt D.Reynolds 10-0 |
| 2002 - Chris Small bt A.McManus 9-5 | 1988 - Steve Davis bt A.Higgins 10-6 |
| 2001 - Stephen Lee bt P.Ebdon 9-4 | 1987 - Stephen Hendry bt D.Taylor 10-7 |
| 2000 - Mark Williams bt R.O'Sullivan 9-5 | 1986 - Jimmy White bt R.Williams 10-6 |
| 1999 - John Higgins bt M.Williams 9-8 | 1985 - Steve Davis bt D.Taylor 10-9 |
| 1998 - Stephen Lee bt M.Fu 9-2 | 1984 - Dennis Taylor bt C.Thorburn 10-2 |
| 1997 - Dominic Dale bt J.Higgins 9-6 | 1983 - Tony Knowles bt J.Johnson 9-8 |
| 1996 - Mark Williams bt E.Henderson 9-5 | 1982 - Ray Reardon bt J.White 10-5 |
