Neil Robertson believes the Tour Championship is 'more special' with original format

Winner of this season’s Saudi Arabia Masters last August - pocketing him his biggest payday in the sport of £500,000 - Robertson went into this year’s Tour Championship as the number one seed.

The Australian came through on the correct side of a brilliant tussle with Barry Hawkins, 10-8, before bowing out to world number one Judd Trump, 10-4, in the semi-finals at the Manchester Central.

Following his departure from the penultimate event of the professional snooker season, Robertson grabbed attention for a comment he made online in response to another user on X (formerly Twitter) about the format of the Tour Championship.

The original poster (@TSnooker102) suggested that the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2019 - consisting of only eight players and with a three-session best of 25 frames final - was the ‘perfect format’.

Robertson replied with: “And one table set up as well for all matches. The re make is terrible sadly”.

History of the Tour Championship format

The Tour Championship is the third and final leg of the Players Series which was introduced in the 2018/19 season. For its opening staging - held at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno - only the top eight players from the one-year/seasonal list were invited.

Multi-session ties throughout the competition, the opening round (last eight) was the best of 17 played across two tables before the best of 19 semi-finals and best of 25 final in a one-table set-up. The inaugural edition was won by Ronnie O’Sullivan who defeated Robertson 13-11 in the final.

The Tour Championship was thrown into disarray in 2020, though, as it was cancelled last minute just as the Covid-19 Pandemic broke out in the UK, and sporting events across the board went the same way.

Rescheduled and played behind-closed-doors in Milton Keynes in the summer instead, only one table was used with best of 17 in the quarters and semis before a best of 19 final.

This one-table arrangement was then used for the next three editions (2021 to 2023), although all matches were the best of 19 frames. Robertson won the crown back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.

In 2023, the event moved to the Bonus Arena in Hull. There was a bit of a surprise field that year with neither O’Sullivan, Trump, Robertson, John Higgins or Mark Williams qualifying for it, and perhaps as a factor, attendances were on the disappointing side.

In an effort to perhaps counteract this, the World Snooker Tour changed the Tour Championship format in 2024, with the top 12 from the one-year list qualifying - the top four going straight through to the quarter-finals, and those ranked 5 to 12 playing in a preliminary round.

The competition also moved to the Manchester Central venue, with two tables in operation for the opening two rounds before one table for the final four.

Robertson on format change: “I understand why it was moved to 12”

Esteemed sports journalist and co-host of the popular Talking Snooker Podcast Nick Metcalfe caught up with Robertson on his ‘Radio Snooker’ service to discuss the comment he made online about the Tour Championship format.

In terms of what players feel about the qualifying criteria, the 26-time ranking event winner said: “It's a funny one, at the start of the season, if you ask (the players) 'do you want it to be eight players or twelve players', you probably say twelve players because then you've got a better chance of qualifying.

“But once you have qualified for the event you'd rather it be eight because it makes scheduling a bit smoother.”

Robertson - who is on the Board of WPBSA Players and has been vocal about issues such as event scheduling and table conditions - still thinks the Tour Championship is a special event, though, and understands the reasoning behind why the field was upped from eight to twelve.

“I think eight players is better and that's why I'm very proud of winning it back-to-back with eight players qualifying.

“But I understand why it was moved to 12...but still a great event regardless, but I feel as though it's a little bit more special with eight.”

One of the advantages to having two tables in use for the opening four days and two rounds of the Tour Championship is for the fans in attendance at the venue and those watching at home.

With two tables, fans are likely to see a full session of snooker from at least one of them, instead of a single one-sided affair that finishes early - a bit like what we saw in the final three matches of this year’s competition.