Australian claims Bahrain title

MANAMA // Neil Robertson likes finals. Last night's in the Bahrain Championship at the International Conference Centre was his third and he has now won all three. Robertson's 9-7 defeat of the Welshman Matthew Stevens was a long drawn-out affair, taking more than six hours to complete. But for the Australian it was worth every minute as he became the first winner of this tournament and took home the first prize of £48,000 (Dh262,000) for the honour. It looked initially as if he would run away with the title, taking a 3-0 lead with breaks of 129, 117 and 96. But Stevens fought back well and slowly clawed his way back before even taking the lead 7-6 by winning a frame which lasted 64 minutes. But Robertson is a typical Australian and battled away to eventually win the last two frames and with them the championship.

cwhebell@thenational.ae