Heartbreak for Cao Yupeng after losing control of Scottish Open (original) (raw)

China’s Cao Yupeng has vowed to learn from the game’s top players after losing an epic Scottish Open final to former world champion Neil Robertson in Glasgow, despite needing only one frame from the final five to win a first ranking title in his debut ranking event final.

“I am just a little bit sad because I put too much pressure on myself when I got close to winning,” Cao said. “My heart needs to be a bit stronger and that is what I need to learn from Neil and the top 16 players. They don’t lose control in the big moments of the game.

“I don’t want to think about it too much. Today was not a good day. I just needed one more frame. I was 8-4 up. Hopefully, it won’t be too bad for my confidence.”

Despite not being a good day, it was certainly a good week for Cao, who not only reached his first ever ranking final but also hit a first professional maximum 147 break in his opening round win over Andrew Higginson.

His previous best result was reaching the final four of this season’s European Masters in October, where he lost to Judd Trump in the semi-final, but he got revenge over the world number three in Glasgow.

Cao beat Trump to reach the final, in a game that saw the Englishman complain afterwards over his opponent’s slow play.

In the other semi-final Robertson exorcised some of his own demons in reaching a first ranking final in over a year by beating world number five and local favourite John Higgins.

Despite Cao only needing one frame, former world champion Robertson sensed the game was there for the taking when Cao’sbody language changed.