Neil Robertson’s absence from The Masters in January should serve as a warning to all top players that no one is untouchable.
The 2010 world champion’s 6-5 defeat to Mark Joyce in the last 32 of the UK Championship in York has sealed his fate and means he will miss out on the prestigious invitational event for the first time since 2006.
The Australian is one of the sport’s stellar names but has struggled for consistency and top form ever since winning the UK Championship here two years ago.
Going into that event he was pretty much going toe to toe with Mark Selby as being regarded the best player in the world. A 6-0 thrashing of his rival Selby in the semi-final followed by a 10-4 win against Liang Wenbo to land the title saw him elevated to position of supremacy in the game; his reputation was arguably higher than it was when he landed the world title.
Since then, it has been a real tail of woe for the Australian. Barring victory at the Riga Masters at the start of the 2016/17 season, he has rarely produced anywhere near is best. A combination of factors off the table are understood to have contributed to his downturn in form, including a self-diagnosed addiction to video games and his wife’s battle with anxiety.
Ironically, Robertson appears to have been on a slight upward curve in recent weeks. Before his defeat to Joyce, Robertson made six centuries in his opening two victories against Gary Wilson and Ken Doherty, has had some good starts in other recent events and reached the quarter-finals of the English Open.
But failure to secure his Masters place here at the UK Championship is ultimately him paying the price for a long spell of under performance rather than being a measure of how he’s playing right at this very moment.
Robertson’s more recent form suggests he is on the comeback trail and will return to the Masters line-up in future seasons.
Missing out this time round though will undoubtedly hurt and may provide an even greater added incentive to hit back.
Other top players may well be looking at this now as it emphasises that reputation counts for very little and no one has a divine right to stay at the top forever.
