Neil Robertson has revealed he 'went berserk' at tournament officials during this season's British Open, criticising the scheduling and practice facilities at the Cheltenham event. The Australian, ranked world number four, labelled the tournament a 'chook raffle' after his second-round defeat to Pang Junxu, which finished at around 11.45pm.
Late start and practice frustrations
Robertson's first match was scheduled second on the Monday evening, with a 'not before 8pm' start after Chris Wakelin faced Luca Brecel at 7pm. Wakelin won that match 4-3, meaning Robertson did not begin his match with Pang until after 10pm. He said he waited in the 'remarkably dark and warm' players' lounge during the delay.
'I let rip in the tournament office. I went berserk,' Robertson told Metro. 'It's something that's got to change in that event because that's why I called it a chook raffle. A chook raffle in Australia is just a completely random event, it's just chaos going on. Nobody knows what's going on.'
The former world champion also criticised the practice table situation, saying he could not get on a table because of the booking system that prioritises players competing the next day. 'I went in there and you can't practice, so I went a few hours without even hitting a ball,' he explained.
World Snooker Tour response
World Snooker Tour responded to the complaints, stating: 'In terms of practice facilities, there is always one spare table available for players in the evening sessions to practise on, in addition to the opportunity players have to book slots on other tables in advance.'
The tour also said: 'We discussed these issues with Neil after his match and explained the reasons for the scheduling. We always take the views of players on board and make changes where it is practical, for example we have added a morning session to the opening day of this event next season.'
Robertson had called for a morning session on the day he played, noting that there was no 10am session that day. 'Scheduling is just awful in Cheltenham because that "not before 8pm" slot, so many times that leads to somebody starting late. It was about 10.10pm I started my match,' he said.
Late finishes and shot clock call
The event saw several very late finishes, with Mark Selby beating David Lilley 4-3 just before 12.40am, and Zhao Xintong downing Mark Joyce at close to 1am on another night. Robertson said players would prefer earlier starts. 'The players would rather play at 10am. There was no 10am session that day. Why? Why are you making all these players go out late?' he asked.
Robertson also renewed his call for a shot clock in snooker, saying: 'We probably need to start looking at some sort of shot clock format for snooker. I think the game really needs it, but they're very hesitant on that idea.'
Despite his frustrations, he praised the event itself: 'It's a shame because it's a good event. I like the FA Cup style draw, but the first few rounds are just absolutely horrific for the players and it's something that I think they've got to get right.'
