NEIL ROBERTSON knocked out a Triple Crown TV debutant from the UK Championship – and then vowed to give him free lessons next summer.
The world No.3 overpowered Belgian qualifier Julien Leclercq 6-2 in the Last 16 of the UK Championship in York.
For the Australian, this was his first win in the tournament since he lifted the trophy in the 2020 Covid-hit year following a late-night thriller with Judd Trump.
Robertson, who now plays exciting China talent Wu Yize in the Last 16, wants to help Leclercq develop his game and pick the right shots.
The Thunder from Down Under, who hit breaks of 105 and 64, said: “I haven’t won a match here since I won it.
“It’s not really nice coming into that kind of record. A couple of illnesses have affected me for a couple of years. Nice to get through.
“Julian is a player that I’m really excited to see how he can do in the future.
“I didn’t know I was going to be playing him until a few days ago when he was playing the last round.
“He’s a much better player than that, but this is his first time playing in this kind of arena, on this table.
“It’s probably the fastest table I’ve played on so far this season. That catches out a lot of raw talents.
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“It certainly did when I first came on. He lost a cue ball a bit.
“I was thinking in my chair, if we were practising, I would stop him and pull him aside and say, ‘this is the shot you’ve got to play’.
“Because the overseas players don’t get that day-to-day experience playing with top players all the time. They have to learn by themselves.
“So hopefully in the summer if it’s not too busy, I can help him out with his shots.
“Watch Mark Selby. Watch John Higgins. You need to be able to play the right shots when the frames do go a little bit scrappy. Just watch those guys as much as possible.
“You don’t really need to watch Ronnie O’Sullivan as much. It would be more important for him to watch Higgins and Selby, guys like that.”
Leclercq, 22, was playing on TV in one of the three big events for the first time and he said: “I was a bit nervous at the start of the match.
“It got better after that. I missed the chance to make it 3-3.
“A fantastic venue. I hope I will come back. Neil is going to help me in the summer and practice with me. That is nice to hear.”
