NEIL ROBERTSON ended up forfeiting a chance to win a whopping £175,000 prize – by forgetting what day it was.
The former world champion was set to take on Michael Holt in a 2025 World Open qualifier at Ponds Forge in Sheffield during the festive period.
Snooker fans were left stunned when a 5-0 win for Holt appeared on results pages without so much as an explanation as to what happened in the scheduled December dust-up.
But Holt, who was bedridden a few days before the scheduled match, has finally revealed what happened in the qualifier – which he almost withdrew from.
He explained on Instagram: “It’s ten to seven, I’m in the office waiting to play and Gary Wilkinson’s [tournament official] phone rang.
“He picked his phone up and looked at me and went [Holt puts his thumb up].
“Basically, Neil forgot what day it was, he got the wrong date, which is a massive stroke of luck for me which meant I got a bye.
“So I’m going to China at the end of February.
“So yeah, that’s a massive bit of luck I had.”
Aussie cueist Robertson has yet to comment on his costly mistake, which meant he failed to qualify for the World Open in which the prize for winning is £175k.
He’ll no doubt be kicking himself for forgetting what day it was, which happens to many a person during the festive period.
Robertson reached the semi-finals of the 2024 World Open, which he was dumped out of by Ding Junhui.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Ronnie O’Sullivan performs ‘interpretative dance’ and hits snooker cue on table as he ‘gives up’ in bizarre performance ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366855906112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]He pocketed a cool £32,500 for his efforts, which he’ll have to wait until 2026 to try improve on.