However good a run a player has, it is only the champion who avoids disappointment and Jimmy Robertson was left ‘gutted’ despite his best result for years at the Shenzhen Open.
The 40-year-old had not been to a ranking semi-final since February 2022 until his fine effort in Shenzhen last week, beating Ben Mertens, Scott Donaldson and Chris Wakelin at the venue after downing Zhou Yuelong and Gong Chenzhi in qualifying.
He would have been delighted with a run to the semis before a ball was struck, but after a dramatic deciding-frame defeat to Yuan Sijun, he was left with frustration on the long flight home.
Robertson earned 41 points in fouls on the final red of the match after laying a brilliant snooker and it looked like he was heading to the final.
Yuan got a bit lucky in escaping another snooker, though, leaving Robertson a tricky safety shot and the tables turned, with the Chinese star eventually getting over the line with the remarkable final frame score of 94-83.
A rare deep run and one of the biggest financial rewards of his career, but nevertheless the nature of the defeat still stings days later.
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‘It turned out a bit of a downer in the end. Obviously I’d have been happy with that at the start of the week, but I was really gutted with how it ended,’ Robertson told Metro. ‘I felt like I had a foot and a half in the final.
‘If he would have made 100 in the decider or beat me 6-0 I’d have taken the positives and it’s onto the next, but losing games like that hurt a lot more.
‘It’s a millimetre and I’m on the red [after Yuan’s final snooker escape]. It’s a massive difference being in the final: financially, ranking-wise and the opportunity to win a big title.
‘I’ll get over it, I’ll be fine in a couple of days and I’m sure I’ll take the positives.’
The semi-final saw both players way below their best early on, with Yuan 3-0 up with a high break of 22. Robertson says he started feeling embarrassed by the standard before brilliantly picking things up with back-to-back centuries as the match sparked into life in its second half.
‘At the start, I don’t know if it’s because I hadn’t played on table one all week, but it played very difficult, the conditions were really hard,’ he said. ‘It got re-covered the night before and the cushions were bouncy, the cloth was heavy and the pockets seemed tight. It was playing really difficult and different from the rest of the week.
‘The balls went scrappy, we dragged each other down and in a big semi when all eyes are on you, it gets a bit embarrassing. I told myself to stay positive because I knew I was playing well. I found something, he raised his game as well and then that decider, it was a tough one to take.’
The positives of his week in Shenzhen are obvious and the £34,500 added to Robertson’s rankings should end any fears of dropping off tour this season, a prospect which was on his mind.
With the structure of the calendar this season, losing in qualifiers can create big gaps in the schedule over the months to come and he has struggled with the inactivity.
‘At the start of the season I knew what I had to do, I had an average last season just to keep your tour card, but we’re on the tour to win tournaments not just keep your card.
‘I started the season okay, qualified for Shenzhen and the British Open and played really well, but then I had another 5-6 weeks off because I didn’t get through to the China Open or Wuhan Open at the start of the season.
‘Once I got to the British Open it felt like I was starting the season fresh again. I lost that, I had another sick game to lose, 4-3 at the English [Open]. All of a sudden you’re on a losing run and feel like you haven’t played much.
‘I got to the block of three qualifiers [for the Northern Ireland Open, International Championship and Scottish Open], lost the first two and it’s panic stations.
‘You start looking at the rankings and think “oh God, I need to get going or my season’s nearly over!” There’s not loads of tournaments left, unless you get in the Players Series.
‘I stopped the rot by winning in the Scottish qualifier and went to Shenzhen and played well. I should have secured my tour spot now.’
The blocks of qualifiers in a short space of time, long before main stages of events have been criticised by players and raised as a concern by WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson.
Despite his great effort in Shenzhen, Robertson is now out of action until German Masters qualifying in mid-November, as he has already fallen in qualifying for upcoming events.
‘I’d like to be playing while I’m playing well. I’ve got another six weeks off and it feels like starting from scratch again,’ he said.
‘It’s a hot topic at the minute, I’m not a fan of blocks of three, definitely not. You can be ill, have a bad back or just play poorly and you’re out of three tournaments and that’s a huge chunk of your season there and then.
‘I qualified for Scotland two weeks ago but it’s not till December 14, it’s crazy.’
Robertson has also joined others in questioning the fairness of the tiered systems regularly being used now, especially when it comes to qualification for the 32-player World Grand Prix and rest of the Players Series.
‘The top players win a handful of matches and they’ll be in the Grand Prix. The players down the bottom have to win loads more matches to get into the Grand Prix or the Players Championship,’ he said. ‘The system just doesn’t work at the minute, for me. It feels like it’s two separate tours.
‘You’ll have plenty of players who don’t see a venue this season, they’ll just see Leicester, which can’t be right. I think it was decent before when there was a mix of seeding players through and flat draws.
‘They’re top 16 for a reason, because they’re very good, but they’re very protected now as well. They’re going to have to have a nightmare to come out of the top 16, with the way the tour is now. They’re the best players anyway, they don’t need a handicap as well.’
The debate over tiered draws will rage on, with commercial factors driving that system as it guarantees big names at main venues to sell tickets and boost TV numbers, but with question marks over sporting fairness.
With a gap in his calendar on the pro circuit, Robertson is having a crack at the Seniors Tour this weekend in Reading, having turned 40 earlier this year.
‘I thought I’d enter for the craic and see some of the boys. Milkman [Rob Milkins] is in it, Mark Davis, Gerard Greene, Ryan [Day], Craig Steadman. I just thought I’d play because I’ve got nothing else for a little while.
‘I can’t believe where the years have gone. I can’t believe I’m 40! But now I’m qualified for it I’m officially an old man.’