Neil Robertson Wins the Masters for the Second Time

Neil Robertson has won the Masters for the second time. The plant-based Australian beat Barry Hawkins 10-4 in the final at Alexandra Palace on Sunday, January 16, ten years after his first Masters win in 2012, and collects the £250,000 winner's check.

The final turned in the fifth frame. With the score at 2-2, Hawkins fouled the green with his sleeve, and Robertson used the free ball to clear up and never looked back, the PA news agency reports. He won four frames in a row at the end to finish it.

The road to the final was anything but easy. Robertson beat Anthony McGill, then Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 in the quarter-finals, then came from 5-3 down against Mark Williams in the semi-finals, needing two snookers in the deciding frame and getting them to win 6-5. He called it the greatest comeback of his career. The title is his sixth Triple Crown and makes him only the tenth player to win the Masters more than once, according to the tournament record.

I'm so happy to win this wonderful title again... I always wanted a mini-repeat with Penelope here as well. She's about the same age actually, so I'm happy for that.

Robertson, 39, went plant-based before the Gdynia Open in March 2015, the first tournament he played on the diet, and he won it. He was nudged toward it by fellow pro Peter Ebdon. He told Great Vegan Athletes: "I felt I needed to eat healthier to give myself the chance to get the most out of my career." His days used to start with a carrot juice and a smoothie of six bananas and half a bag of kale. He doesn't call himself vegan, but he doesn't eat animal products.

This is far from the first title of Robertson's plant-based years. He thrashed Jack Lisowski 11-4 to win the China Open and won his second Champion of Champions title in 2019. Ebdon, the man who got him started, retired from professional snooker in 2020.

Six bananas a smoothie, two Masters titles.