Jimmy Robertson (snooker player)

Robertson qualified for one ranking event in the 2011–12 season, the World Open, thanks to wins over Andrew Norman, Ken Doherty and Rory McLeod, before seeing off amateur Zhou Yuelong in the wildcard round at the event in Haikou, China.[4] In the first round of the event proper he played Mark Allen and was beaten 1–5, with the Northern Irishman later going on to win the tournament.[5] Robertson reached the semi-finals of Event 7 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship series, where he lost 0–4 to Matthew Stevens. He played in 11 out of 12 of these events, also picking up a last 16 finish in Event 4 to be placed 31st on the PTC Order of Merit, just outside the top 24 who made the Finals.[6] Robertson finished the season ranked world number 55, inside the top 64 who automatically retained their places for the 2012–13 season.[7]

Robertson qualified for two ranking events during the 2012/2013 season.[8] The first of these was the Shanghai Masters by beating Tian Pengfei, Jack Lisowski and Anthony Hamilton, but he was defeated 4–5 by Jin Long in the wildcard round in Shanghai.[9] His second appearance at a ranking event was at the China Open by seeing off Robbie Williams and Joe Perry in qualifying and this time came through the wildcard round with a 5–1 defeat of Wang Yuchen, compiling his highest competitive break of 142 in the process[10][8] He faced Neil Robertson in the last 32 and was whitewashed 0–5.[11] Robertson had a consistent season in the ten Players Tour Championship events, with his best result being a last 16 loss to Andrew Higginson in the Scottish Open, to finish 45th on the PTC Order of Merit.[12] Robertson's season ended when he was beaten 3–10 by Liang Wenbo in the third round of World Championship Qualifying, to be placed world number 52 in the rankings.[13][14]

He began the 2013–14 season by qualifying for the Wuxi Classic and whitewashed Graeme Dott 5–0 in the first round, before losing 5–4 to Scott Donaldson in the last 32.[15][16] Robertson lost in the last 64 of four other ranking events during the season.[17] He had a very good season in the European Tour events as he reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Open where he was beaten 4–2 by Neil Robertson.[18] Robertson had a very eventful tournament at the Bluebell Wood Open as Stuart Bingham made a 72 break in the deciding frame of their second round match, before Robertson cleared the table with a 73 break to win. In the last 16 he came back from 3–0 against Vinnie Calabrese to triumph 4–3 and reach another quarter-final, where Ding Junhui defeated him 4–1.[17] Robertson finished 20th on the Order of Merit which saw him qualify for the Finals for the first time in his career, but he lost 4–2 to John Higgins in the opening round.[19][20]

Jimmy Robertson at the 2015 German Masters

Robertson played at the venue stage of eight ranking tournaments this year, the most he has reached in any one season. However, he was unable to win past the last 32 in any of them.[21] He had another good season in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events, losing in the semi-finals of the Asian Tour's Haining City Open 4–3 to Oliver Lines which saw him finish eighth on the Order of Merit.[22] His other semi-final came on the European Tour at the Gdynia Open where he was whitewashed 4–0 by Mark Williams. Robertson was ranked 15th on their Order of Merit.[23] He qualified for his second World Championship by edging Xiao Guodong 10–9 on the final pink.[24] Robertson made a 106 break to level his first round tie with Marco Fu at 5–5, but would go on to lose 10–6.[25] His ranking of 41st in the world was the highest Robertson has finished a season at that point in his career.[26]

At the Haining Open, Robertson reached the semi-finals by knocking out Xiao Guodong and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh from the fourth round stage, but he lost 4–2 to Ding Junhui. He reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time in his career by beating Darryl Hill 6–2 and Barry Hawkins 6–4 at the International Championship and then lost 6–3 to Marco Fu.[27] Robertson saw off Michael Wild 4–3 and Michael Holt 4–1 in reaching the third round of the Welsh Open, where he was thrashed 4–0 by Ronnie O'Sullivan.[28] He lost 5–1 to Judd Trump in the second round of the China Open and 10–2 to Alan McManus in the last round of World Championship qualifying.[27] Robertson's end of season ranking of 34 is the highest he has ever finished a year in his career.[29]

Robertson reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time by beating Dechawat Poomjaeng 4–0 and Martin O'Donnell 4–3 at the Riga Masters and was defeated 4–1 by John Astley. He also recorded the event's high break of 138. Robertson was thrashed 5–0 by Shaun Murphy in the second round of the World Open after he had eliminated Wang Yuchen 5–1 in the opener. He won through to the third round of both the UK Championship and Welsh Open, but failed to pick up a frame in losses to Oliver Lines and Scott Donaldson respectively.[30] Robertson defeated Cao Yupeng 10–8, Oliver Lines 10–4 and Rod Lawler 10–6 to qualify for the World Championship and played Mark Allen in the opening round.[31] In a close match he was edged out 10–8.[32]