Robertson finds passport

Robertson looked set to join Ronnie O'Sullivan in missing the landmark event - the first ranking tournament to be staged in Germany since the 1997 German Open - after revealing that he could not find his passport.

The tournament suffered a major blow when crowd favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan decided to withdraw hours before his first match against Dominic Dale at the 2,500-capacity Tempodrom in Berlin citing ill health.

The absence of current world champion Robertson would not have pleased the tournament's organisers or sponsors, but the flamboyant Australian player is due to fly into Berlin at 5.30pm (local time) on Thursday with his match against Anthony Hamilton in the last 32 scheduled to start at 8pm.

"What with Ronnie and a world champion who's lost his passport, what chance have you got?," said World Snooker's chairman Barry Hearn on the cusp of the event.

It is not the first time that Robertson has almost missed a match - the Australian turned up at a Premier League fixture in November in Llandudno in Wales only five minutes before a game was due to start after boarding the wrong train.

"He is now on the plane, and should make it," confirmed a spokesperson for World Snooker.

Hearn has vowed to take disciplinary action against players who withdraw from events without a good reason as he tries to increase the sport's growing popularity outside of its traditional roots in the UK.