NEIL ROBERTSON hopes he does not fall asleep in his chair during his next snooker match – after a 21,500-mile round trip to collect Australia’s highest citizen accolade.
The Thunder from Down Under received the Medal of the Order of Australia in front of his parents on Tuesday on his return to Melbourne.
AlamyNeil Robertson is expected back in the UK for the English Open[/caption]
GettyHe flew to Australia and back to collect the Medal of the Order of Australia[/caption]
Robbo – who relocated to the UK in his late teens in pursuit of snooker success – was honoured for his outstanding performances on the baize, notably becoming world champion 15 years ago.
It has been a fleeting visit to his homeland and he is due to begin his English Open title defence on Tuesday evening in Brentwood.
The world No.3 skipped a recent event in Wuhan as he had just won £500,000 when he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Jeddah.
He said: “I’m catching the plane home – don’t fancy a boat trip! I come back on Saturday, so a very short turnaround for the English Open.
“Expectations are obviously different if I was in the UK and had been practising maybe for a couple of weeks.
“But I’m on such an emotional high from winning in Saudi and receiving the honour, spending time with family.
“In terms of preparation on the table, it’s not great, but I don’t think it’s really going to matter much at all.
“I still get a couple of days’ practice when I get back. In some ways it’s actually probably the most relaxed I’ve ever been going into a tournament.
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“Coming to Australia, it’s a nightmare for jetlag, but coming back to the UK, I always find you sort of settle in really quickly.
“I don’t know how I’ll feel – if you see me falling asleep during my match, then you’ll get your answer!”
Robertson, 43, was proud to be recognised by the Aussie Government and the timing of the investiture worked well with his schedule.
Instead of perhaps playing a few rounds in the Wuhan Open, where he may “have hit a mental brick wall”, he was able to take a break and reset.
The 26-time ranking tournament winner said: “Getting the Medal of the Order of Australia was incredible.
“The strangest thing is that I was looking around the room and was certainly the youngest person to receive it on Tuesday, which again just added to how proud I am.
Instagram / nr147He attended the ceremony in Melbourne, Australia[/caption]
“There’d been people who had been contributing to their sports for like 40-50 years and really having to sacrifice a lot and work hard.
“When I got told I was getting the nomination, I was really excited about it. Because I wasn’t too sure if this day would ever come.
“I didn’t know if it was something I’d probably receive when maybe I’m 70.
“In Australia, they don’t give out awards to sportspeople lightly. They’re very hard to come by.
“To get the confirmation that I was actually going to be receiving it was unbelievable.
“That gave me a huge boost and yeah, a very proud moment for me and my family, who were there on Tuesday.”
Robertson, who is nine hours ahead of the UK while on the Australia east coast, hopes the initials OAM will be displayed next to his name when he appears on TV.
The antipodean said: “I always used to think it was so cool when, as a kid in Australia, I’d see Stephen Hendry with an MBE after his name.
“I’d think, wow, that looks amazing. It’s so cool. I’d love to have that one day.
“So hopefully that’s something – with all the players like Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Williams – we should all have that there.”
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