Neil Robertson laments 'pretty horrendous' situation at Northern Ireland Open and isn't 'stressing' over ranking

Neil Robertson says the practice situation at the Northern Ireland Open is “pretty horrendous” as he has been unable to hit a ball before his matches. Robertson cruised through his opening two matches in Belfast with a 4-0 win over Fraser Patrick and a 4-2 victory against Fan Zhengyi. Ad With the held-over qualifying matches and the last 64 taking place over the first three days, there is a battle between the players to secure practice time ahead of their games.

Northern Ireland OpenSelby beats Craigie in cagey second round affair18 MINUTES AGO “You can’t practice on the table,” Robertson told Eurosport. “You’re going out and playing your match without even hitting a ball. “That’s pretty horrendous preparation but there’s nothing you can do.

“I get here on the Saturday and the tables are completely booked up until Wednesday and you can’t book around that because you never know when you’re playing. “I didn’t know when I was playing until a few hours after my match yesterday.” Robertson is making his first ranking tournament appearance this season after opting to miss the Championship League, the European Masters and the British Open. The 40-year-old wants to play “for fun” so has decided to pick and choose which events he plays in.

“I’m retired from the sport in that regard,” he said when asked whether he thinks about ranking points. “I really don’t care. I just want to play in the tournament, make some big breaks, enjoy it.

“I’m past stressing over things and looking at ranking lists, ‘Am I going to qualify for this or that’. Just play the game and see where it leads you. “I haven’t looked at the ranking list since I was 26! ‘He lacks that killer instinct’ – O’Sullivan claims Robertson needs ‘nastiness’ Why fans have