Neil Robertson suggests ‘two Crucible venues’ to provide ‘amazing experience’
Neil Robertson issued a radical proposal for dual World Championship venues after sweeping into the second round at the Crucible on Tuesday.
The Australian, who turned a 6-3 overnight lead into a 10-5 win over Ashley Hugill, has been a long-time critic of the cramped conditions during the two-table set-up at the Sheffield venue.
And he believes a potential answer could lie in identifying a second, similarly sized auditorium in the city which could act as a second, simultaneous stage through the early-round matches.
Robertson said: “My idea is to make it kind of like Wimbledon, where you have Centre Court and Court One, so you give everyone who qualifies the one-table experience.
“I think if you had two Crucible venues that are equal, it would be an amazing experience for everyone to end their season – Sheffield is well equipped to deal with that.
“It’s just an idea. Everyone gets to experience that from round one at the Masters, whereas here there’s only four (semi-finalists). Being the World Championship, it should be the biggest event from the start, not the semi-finals.”
I think if you had two Crucible venues that are equal, it would be an amazing experience for everyone to end their season - Sheffield is well equipped to deal with that- Neil Robertson
Robertson cemented his status as title favourite by shrugging off an early scare against the Crucible debutant, having started with a 127 in the opening frame but fallen 3-1 behind in the early stages of their match on Monday.
Five frames on the bounce, including two more centuries, put him in a commanding position overnight and Robertson looked in no mood to hang around as he extended his streak to eight upon Tuesday morning’s resumption.
But Hugill dug deep to delay