UK Championship 2021 – Neil Robertson latest pro humbled by amateur after John Astley defeat

Neil Robertson crashed out to John Astley in the first round of the UK Championships on Thursday evening.

After Shaun Murphy’s outburst over his own upset exit at the hands of an amateur, it was the turn of the Australian to exit the competition somewhat earlier than expected.

Given the margin of victory, Robertson, who won the title last time out, was rarely in with a shout but the result was not exactly overwhelmingly one-sided.

Astley hit a break of 74 for the first frame, but there was no break above 50 in the next three frames as the amateur ran up a 3-1 lead.

That became 4-1 when Astley made a break of 83, before Robertson’s class told with a break of 124 to give him a glimmer of hope. However Astley proved it was no upset with a break of 119 before taking a scrappy eighth frame for the win.

Elsewhere, Scottish veteran journeyman Graeme Dott secured a 6-3 win over Englishman Jamie O’Neill.

There was plenty of Chinese success as Yan Bingtao recorded a 6-0 win against Ng On Yee, Zhao Xingtong beat Yuan Sijun 6-3, and Tian Pengfei beat Luxembourg’s Simon Lichtenberg 6-5. Gao Yang also defeated Lu Haotian 6-2, as well as Fan Zhengyi beating Elliot Slessor.

There were some English successes. Martin Gould beat compatriot Barry Pinches 6-1, Joe Perry won by the same margin against Scot Fraser Patrick, and Joe O’Connor secured a 6-4 victory over Fergal O’Brien.