Mark Joyce’s victory ‘a career high’
Defeating a red hot Neil Robertson will go down as a career highlight according to Mark Joyce as he stunned the Aussie at the Betway UK Championship.
Robertson came into the contest against the Walsall potter with six century breaks from the first two rounds at tournament in York.
But the 41st seed produced a stunning performance and four half century breaks of his own to outlast the two-time champion and make it to the last 16.
And the 34-year-old, who made the quarter finals in this event in 2010, hailed the victory as one of his best.
He said: “It’s got to be up there. I beat Judd Trump here in 2012 when he was defending champion and world No.1 so that’s up there too.
“I thought I had blown it in the final frame when I played a bad safety and he got about 20 ahead, I think he was massive favourite at that point. But slowly I managed to get back into it and when my chance came around I took it.”
The writing appeared to be on the wall for Joyce after Robertson opened up with a monster break of 128 and then racked up another century break in the sixth frame.But Joyce kept his composure and was clinical throughout, getting his rewards in the deciding frame.
He will face Chinese player Lyu Haotian today.
Watch LIVE coverage of the UK Championship on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.
