PTC Grand Finals 2012 (the final) - Stephen Lee puts on champion robe

00:57:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Stephen Lee - the 2012 PTC Grand Finals champion
Stephen Lee recorded a perfect 4-0 scoreline in the final played against Neil Robertson, becoming the second PTC Grand Finals champion. 

The man from Trowbridge cruised towards victory nice and steady and managed to win the final frame after a thrilling battle of cues ended on a re-spotted black.

A couple of weeks ago Lee was losing the Haikou World Final against Mark Allen by 10-1, this time though thing going to be different, the final 4-0 result proving the 2006 Welsh Open champion deserves to be taken into account when it comes to winning tournaments.

The English-Australian snooker affair had a pretty scrappy start, the biggest break made in the first frame being Lee's 26 one, while Robbo could only reach up until 20. It took about 44 minutes for the Englishman to leave Neil in need of two snookers and another three for the Aussie to fluke the last pink and concede the frame.

The finalists: Neil Robertson and Stephen  Lee
The next stop was a break of 52, which put Stephen two ahead, while a 47 followed by a poor safety shot from Robertson were throwing Lee just one step away from victory at 3-0.

The last frame saw Robbo losing position on 27, Lee doing the same on 66, while the table had only two reds and the colors left to be potted. When Lee sent one of the reds into the yellow pocket, it all seemed to be over for his opponent, but as the red was going in, so was the cue ball. 

Robertson came to the table to make a perfect 35 clearance that was freezing the scoreline at 66-66, hence the black was re-spotted.

Lee punches the air as he wins the battle
It took the lads a few minutes of attempts and safety shots, but in the end the Australian made a terrible mistake and placed the black right next to the left centre pocket. 

Cleary nervous, Lee bent over the table and pushed his cue sending the last ball into a hungry pocket. His fist punched the air - he was champion once more.

Stephen Lee's victory comes after the 2006 Welsh Open tournament, but also after winning last year's minor-ranking EPTC crown that he obtained after beating Stephen Maguire.

On the other hand, Neil Robertson's legacy of winning all the televised finals he qualified for has been stopped, though the Australian has showed himself confident to regain that position. 

The PTC Grand Finals is being followed by the China Open tournament starting on March 26, with Judd Trump as defending champion.

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