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Robertson secures maiden ranking title in Belgium

Jimmy Robertson beat Mark Allen and Mark King en route to the final
Jimmy Robertson beat Mark Allen and Mark King en route to the final

Jimmy Robertson secured reward for years of persistence by landing the first ranking title of his career at the European Masters.

The 32-year-old from Bexhill fended off a fightback from Joe Perry to win 9-6 and collect the £75,000 top prize, comfortably his biggest snooker pay day.

Robertson had decent wins over Mark Allen and Mark King to reach the title match, and held his nerve as 44-year-old Perry fought back from 5-0 behind to trail only 7-6 at one stage.

Perry was on a charge after breaks of 106 and 110, but Robertson steadied himself with 54 to move 8-6 in front, and a superb 108 saw him over the winning line.

Robertson turned professional as a 16-year-old and has worked hard on his game but struggled to produce at the highest level, notably suffering first-round defeats in each of his four World Championship appearances.

He said of his triumph in Belgium: "It means everything. It's what I've dreamed of since I was a little boy playing the game. I'm so happy to have won my first title today.

"So far my season has been poor - in my career, I've been winning matches but not going deep in any tournaments so this has come out of the blue."

Speaking on Eurosport, Robertson added: "I always knew I had this in me but I hadn't produced it out there. It was nice to produce it at the end."

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