Robertson through to final

Neil Robertson made history on Saturday by becoming the first Australian to reach a Crucible final.

And Robertson will be staying in Sheffield despite the imminent arrival of his first child - Robertson's Norwegian girlfriend Mille is due to give birth on Sunday. On Saturday night there was a thrilling battle under way to decide who will join Robertson in the final.

The 28-year-old sealed a 17-12 semi-final win over Ali Carter, having led 15-9 overnight. Graeme Dott and Mark Selby were battling to take on Robertson, and Dott led 16-14, having seen a 10-6 lead gradually eroded.

Robertson revealed how he had hoped his mother would be in Sheffield for the Betfred.com World Championship this year, but the volcano cloud which closed much of Europe's air space scuppered the plans.

There remained a chance she would be able to arrive in time to see some of the final.

Robertson said: "The final is tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday, and unfortunately it's 24 hours on a plane.

"My mum was going to come over this year and got really close to doing so, but with what happened with the volcano and everything, and when I was 11-5 down to Martin Gould, I thought it was lucky she didn't come.

"But I won that and now I'm in the final, so I'm regretting that she didn't come a little bit.

"It's just unfortunate Australia is so far away. I definitely want them to come over here one time, and unfortunately I've picked a year for them not to come over and I'm in the final. I'll have to have a good run next year as well."