Neil Robertson raises complaint after crashing out of UK Championship | Other | Sport

Neil Robertson has bemoaned the quality of the snooker tables at the York Barbican after crashing out of the UK Championship at the hands of Judd Trump. The match was interrupted during the second frame as fans were asked to leave the arena following a medical emergency in the crowd.

And the Australian went on to blow a 3-1 lead as he lost five frames on the bounce, with Trump eventually cruising to a 6-3 victory.

Trump will now face three-time champion John Higgins in the second round after the Scot thrashed He Guoqiang 6-0.

“I think probably the only two people who could be critical of our play was myself and Judd, because unless you’re out there and you know how hard the conditions are playing today, that was tough,” Robertson explained after the match.

“When the gentleman had an issue and we came off for 20 minutes, we were both sort of laughing about it really.

“I mean, he’s almost missed the red off the break-off. That tells you how hard things were out there. Basic positional shots flying off the cushions, going two feet too far, has sort of been a bit of a pattern this week and I don’t think the standard has been very good because of that.

“It was just a really, really tough game for both of us, and just a bit unfortunate really that neither of us could play at our level.”

Trump, meanwhile, also took aim at the table as he suggested the cushions didn’t behave in the manner he would expect.

“I did my best in both sessions [and played] as well as I could play in the conditions out there,” stated the Bristol-born star.

“So we both found it tough. It’s difficult when you can’t perform to your best out there in a big event.

“We both struggled with conditions a little bit and just tried to not give up and hopefully it would turn around, hopefully Neil would miss a couple, or things would go my way and that’s kind of what happened after the interval.

“The cushions were just very, very bouncy, very heavy, so it was very hard to stop the white. Every time you hit the ball it would go near a cushion and it’s tough because it gets you down.

“I think I’m someone that performs better in perfect conditions. When the table’s heavier, I’m probably one of the worst players just because I don’t hit the centre of the ball.”