'If I win that’s the energy bills paid' – Neil Robertson on what £20,000 cash boost means to struggling snooker players

ByEurosport

Published 08/09/2022 at 11:32 GMT

Masters champion Neil Robertson feels the decision to guarantee every player on the World Snooker Tour at least £20,000 this season will help them focus on the sport rather than worry about earning enough to pay "rent and utility bills". He said: "It has come at a really good time with the cost-of-living crisis in the UK". Stream top snooker action live on discovery+ and on eurosport.co.uk

The moment Neil Robertson won the Masters

Neil Robertson admits snooker players earning a guaranteed £20,000 during the UK cost-of-living crisis is vital to keep the sport afloat this season.

With China's continued absence from the sport in hosting several events due to the pandemic – including the Shanghai Masters, China Championship, China Open, World Open and International Open – snooker has been deprived of millions in annual prize money.

World Snooker and the WPBSA [World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association] announced on Wednesday they will trial the roll-out of their own bailout strategy that will guarantee all 130 players on the professional circuit a guaranteed minimum of £20,000 in earnings. £10,000 will be doled out this month with another £10,000 handed out in January.

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“I still remember playing matches, deciders, even being on match ball and thinking ‘this is for the next three months’ rent’. And that doesn’t help you perform your best," said the Masters holder.

“And it is why I have always lived a fairly modest life, I don’t ever want to have those thoughts again.

“Other guys will have been going through that, thinking ‘If I win this that’s the rent and utility bills paid for a few months’. This will offer some peace of mind to help them push on."

World No. 60 Elliot Slessor highlighted the problems last season when he commented: "30% of the tour can’t afford a loaf of bread. Either give players expenses or cut the tour and guarantee everybody dough."

World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has suggested reducing winnings at the top of the sport to help players in the lower reaches of the rankings while Judd Trump feels the tour should be reduced from 130 players to boost earning potential.

“It is a really good decision and use of funds from World Snooker and the WPBSA, and I am very pleased to hear about it," commented Robertson.

“Even as a top player earning decent money, you remember what it was like early in your career, and you also know what it is like at the moment for lower-ranked pros.

”And it has been especially hard. The pandemic saw lots of big-money tournaments in China and elsewhere fall off the calendar, and they are not back yet.

“So there have been real issues with prize money, covering expenses and gaps in the schedule. This is a better use of the 2.5 per cent levy we pay on all prize money."

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World No. 4 Robertson picked up over £700,000 last year in prize money from career winnings of over £6m, but knows what the other side of life is like as an aspiring player.

He remembers standing in line at the local job centre in his native Melbourne at the outset of 2003 with no job, no qualifications and three failed attempts behind him on the UK-based professional tour.

“I was in the queue at the job centre. I had no other option. I didn’t have any qualifications having left school at 15,” Robertson told Eurosport.

“I didn’t really want to do anything, and didn’t know what I was going to do. I remember being in there, and there was this guy kicking off at the counter because they weren’t going to pay him.

“I don’t know what the system is over here, but you have to do 10 job interviews over two weeks. He was kicking off, swearing, saying f*** this, f*** that.

“I was like: “Oh my God, is this my life ahead?” That was at the start of 2003."

While Robertson ended last season on prize money of £902,000 on the two-year ranking list, world No. 64 Stuart Carrington – the final player on the list who avoided a trip to Q School in May to avoid losing his tour card – earned a relatively modest £65,500 over the same period.

“I have helped sponsor players myself before that were in real difficulty," explained Robertson. "I know this a year’s trial. But if they can sustain it, it changes everything for young would-be pros.

“All of a sudden being a pro snooker player become viable. Some of those lower down maybe even have part-time jobs at their clubs or elsewhere.

“And it would mean they could focus 100 per cent on practice, maybe upgrade their tables to the better tour standard which is a big deal, and cover their travel and expenses. You can be back off the tour by the time you adjust to the tables."

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“Listen, £20,000 won’t cover everything by any means, but it has come at a really good time with the cost-of-living crisis in the UK," the 23-ranking event winner said in The Sportsman.

“My fellow Australian Ryan Thomerson who turned pro this summer is the first player I think of – this would help someone like him to buy a table and get it recovered.

“Players like myself, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Mark Selby are fortunate that we are playing for the big prizes and good money.

"But there has to be some incentive for those turning pro, and this may encourage more strong amateurs to give it a go.”

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