Robbie Williams is beginning to look more at home on snooker’s biggest stage.
The world number 63 has enjoyed a successful week so far at the International Championship beating Joe Perry 6-3 and former world champion Neil Robertson 6-2 to progress to only his second ranking event quarter-final – more than four years on from his first.
His scalp of the Australian Robertson – which he claims to be the biggest win of his career so far – also comes just a fortnight on from his epic battle with Judd Trump at the European Masters where the world number four needed three centuries to secure a hard-fought 4-3 victory.
Williams says this performance on the TV table in Belgium has given him the belief that he can rub shoulders with the best in the business whenever and wherever he meets them.
His run so far in Daqing is evidence that he has grown in confidence, although it’s no coincidence it comes in an event with a slightly longer format than others on the calendar.
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The Merseyside side potter does not have a reputation as being the most fashionable of players on the circuit and is more suited to longer matches and those with multi-sessions as it plays to his strengths as a hardened match player.
Williams is most famous for qualifying to play three years in succession at the World Championship between 2014 and 2016. This run meant that he enjoyed a string of 11 consecutive wins in the qualification stages for the sport’s showpiece event – enhancing his reputation as one of the toughest players to beat on tour outside of the top-ranked professionals.
He has been unable to turn this excellent record into wins at The Crucible having lost on all three of his appearances in the first round demonstrating just how difficult it is for players outside of the elite to adapt and feel comfortable playing in front of the big crowds and under the glaring lights of the TV cameras.
This week’s performance will see Williams force his way back under snooker’s public spotlight and shows he is more than establishing himself.