Players Tour Championship Event 6 (2011) - Robertson, champion once more

Neil Robertson, the 2011 PTC 6 champion

Neil Robertson wins his first ranking tournament of the season by beating Ricky Walden 4-1 in the final of the Players Tour Championship Event 6 from Warsaw, Poland. This becomes Robertson's first title since the 2010 World Open held in September in Glasgow.

It's been crystal clear that Neil Robertson is back in business since he managed to win Premier League's week three of action, but now, during a traditional event that hasn't had involved any shot-clocks or sudden-death frames, it became even clearer. 

Robbo booked himself a place into the Last 16 by defeating Daniel Wells 4-2, Pink Army's soldier Gerard Greene 4-3 and the strategist Peter Ebdon by the same scoreline. This will become some sort of typical result for the next matches to come, his first opponent Stephen Maguire being beaten also by 4-3, as well as Shaun Murphy.

During the semi-final the Aussie’s "fury" was unleashed as he whitewashed Stephen Lee in order to reach the final. Here, he met with Ricky Walden, a player that proved he's also to be considered as getting back in business. Unfortunately for Ricky, the Australian player was more determined and took each chance that was given to win as many frames as possible. In the end, with a bit of help from breaks like 76, 69, 95 and 68 the victory was now a living reality: Neil Robertson is champion once more.

Ricky Walden, the 2011 PTC 6 runner-up

Walden's history with this season’s PTCs is a pretty strange one because the lad made quite a reputation for missing to qualify into the Last 16 due to losing the third round. However, this time something happened and that perfect 4-0 he scored against Cao Yupeng during last night match was definitely a statement of "don't rule me off!". 

The final day of matches started pretty good for the Englishman as he ended Liu Chuang's Polish dream with a decisive 4-0, continued with a marvellous 4-3 against Judd Trump and ended by winning the semi-final with the same scoreline, this time his victim being the one and only Steve Davis.
Regardless of losing the final, it was nice to se Ricky playing with such confidence and taking his chances when the situation required it. Hopefully he'll keep the best out of this experience and surely the victory won't stay away from him for long.

Robbo and Ricky

I can't end this article without mentioning one of this tournament's biggest revelations - Steve Davis. The "Nugget" stunned the audience and did an enormous good to his fans by reaching the semi-final of the PTC 6. He had a terrific run that was partially completed with a borrowed cue (his personal one being lost by the airline company) but also with a great desire of winning as much as possible. His list victims contains the names of Barry Hawkins, Alan McManus, Mark King and Jack Lisowski, which is pretty amazing if we are to think about it. 

His performance made me remember that match he played against John Higgins at the 2010 World Championship, back when Higgins was the defending champion. What a victory that was! And what a victory this is for the six-time world champion! Although he only reached the semis, he did it in great style and that's all that counts.

Once a legend - always a legend - Steve Davis

No wonder why so many players feel inspired by him, Shaun Murphy saying on his Twitter account: "Been inspired by @SteveSnooker this weekend here in Warsaw. Going to go home and practice harder than ever for the rest of the season." - That what kind of impact this legend has on people.

So, another name has been added to the list of PTC champions, this time being Neil Robertson's turn to be covered in glory.  However, there are still plenty of PTCs left to play in and win, the very next one being held in the beautiful South West Snooker Academy from Gloucester between 5 and 9 of October.

Final day list of results: