• Snooker World Championship

Robertson through to first world final

Neil Robertson admitted reaching the final was the 'proudest moment' of his career © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Robertson fends off Dott challenge to take World crown
  
• News: Robertson relishes 'perfect' moment
  
• News: Robertson edges ahead at halfway point of final
  
• News: Dott denies brave Selby to reach third Crucible final
  
• News: Robertson on the verge of first world final
  

Australia's Neil Robertson completed a dominant semi-final display to beat Allister Carter and become the first man from outside the British Isles to reach the world final since Cliff Thorburn in 1983.

The 28-year-old has been in sparkling form throughout this year's tournament and never gave Carter a sniff as he closed out a 17-11 victory. The win marks a remarkable turnaround for the world No. 9. Robertson almost gave up on his snooker career in his late teens when he could not settle in England and returned to his home city of Melbourne.

Despite dominating the Australian snooker scene, Robertson realised his prospects of future success on the international stage appeared bleak and decided to give the sport a second shot as a professional in 2003. Since then the 28-year-old has barely looked back, as his career gained pace with four world ranking title wins, including last October's Grand Prix in Glasgow.

"This is the proudest moment of my career," Robertson told the BBC after completing the win. "I was under a lot of pressure coming in this year as they are showing a lot of the coverage live in Australia.

"Everyone back home will be really excited and this is just an incredible moment for me. I just can't wait for tomorrow. Today was tough because when you have such a big lead then you can't help thinking about the final.

"I got a little bit anxious and in the end I was happy to get it over and done with." Carter began the final session in defiant mood as he won the first two frames of the day with breaks of 64 and 71 to close the gap to 15-11.

The Englishman wasted a brilliant chance to reduce the deficit in a scrappy 27th frame as he missed an easy red to the right-centre pocket when leading by 35 points. Robertson, aided by a superb back-double, cleared the table to move one frame away from a winning margin.

Carter delayed the inevitable with a gutsy break to leave Robertson squirming in his seat, but Carter's resolve was finally ended as Robertson wrapped up the win in a tense final frame. Robertson becomes the first Australian to appear in a Crucible final and if he wins the title will become the first overseas player to win at the Crucible since Thorburn in 1980.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.