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By
Alexander Netherton
Published 23/02/2021 at 17:27 GMT | Updated 23/02/2021 at 17:35 GMT
2010 world champion Neil Robertson crushed Lu Ning 6-1 in the first round of the Players Championship.
The 39-year-old Australian produced a break-building clinic in a comprehensive victory over Lu to lay down a marker a day after world number one Judd Trump tumbled out of the tournament to Stuart Bingham.
Australia’s greatest player - world champion in 2010 – delivered on his reputation as one of the game’s best attacking talents, knocking in four tons on his way to setting up a quarter-final showdown against Kyren Wilson, who downed Ryan Day 6-1 on Monday night.
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The Melburnian, a three-time finalist at the Players Championship, assumed total control of the contest after a share of the first two frames, knocking in runs of 135, 130, 82, 142, and 132 as Lu was reduced to the role of spectator.
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The world number 33 did not register a single point in the last three frames of the match and, such was Robertson's superiority, only managed to register three points over the final five frames of a one-sided encounter.
Elsewhere, Jack Lisowski, seeded fifth, sealed a 6-3 win over Martin Gould, and he will face the winner of the evening encounter between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui.
Players Championship results
- Jack Lisowski [5] 6 - 3 Martin Gould [12]
- Neil Robertson [3] 6 - 1 Lu Ning [14]
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