Australians for Constitutional Monarchy

When the Australian Neil Robertson won the 2010 World Snooker Championship on Tuesday 4 May, he did what  Australian sportsmen and women now do. He wrapped himself in the Australian National Flag.

Neil Robertson became only the second Australian to win the world snooker championship title with victory in the final at Sheffield, England , reports Sky Australia TV News.

The following is an extract from the Sky Australia TV report.

Neil Robertson, 28, defeated Scotland's Graeme Dott 18-13 in a marathon best-of-35 frames final at The Crucible Theatre to cap an emotional triumph.

His win comes 58 years after Australian Horace Lindrum beat a field weakened by a player boycott in 1952. Robertson's victory also makes him the first world champion from outside the British Isles since Canada's Cliff Thorburn in 1980.

'Oh my God, absolutely incredible, I just can't believe it,' said Robertson, who picked up a 250,000-pound ($A411,000) first prize. 'I'd had three goes at it (in the past) really and didn't go any good. There's no way in the world the guys that beat me would've thought I could do what I've done. 'But I just kept persisting with it.'

'I came over the Cambridge with 500 quid in my pocket and I had to borrow a waistcoat off another Australian player, I couldn't afford to buy one. So I can probably buy a few more now I guess.'

Robertson was boosted by the presence of his mother Alison in Sheffield after she took a gamble and flew to Britain while Robertson was still contesting the semi-finals.

'My mum and her partner had been travelling for ages and they only had about two hours' sleep before the first session, and it just makes this memory absolutely perfect,' Robertson said.

The Australian also went into the last day of the championships still waiting for his Oslo-based Norwegian girlfriend Mille to give birth.The final played over two days lasted 12 hours and finished at 12.54am, matching the latest finish for a final - John Higgins completed his victory over Mark Selby at the same time in 2007.

It was broadcast on Australian pay-per-view television for the first time.

In securing his title, Robertson maintained his perfect record in ranking event finals, stretching it out to five wins from five appearances.

Thirteen years ago Robertson disappointed his mother by quitting school early to focus on snooker, but after several years of toil as a journeyman player he has realised every player's ultimate ambition.