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Neil Robertson immediately hit back at one Shaun Murphy claim following the 2026 World Championship final over the weekend. Murphy was on the wrong end of a 35-frame thriller at the Crucible, with Wu Yize edging the contest to become world champion for the first time.

Apart from an early Wu blitz, the match had gone back and forth across the three sessions, with Murphy digging deep to force a last-frame decider. It didn't go the way of the Englishman, but Murphy was still praised for his performance, with some believing he was unlucky to have ended up on the losing side.

One of those was Steve Davis, who even went as far as saying it's the best anybody has ever played in a World Championship final, while ending up on the losing side. However, Robertson, a self-confessed snooker fanatic, was having none of it, as he instead brought up another losing performance from yesteryear.

Posting on X, the former Crucible champion said: "Barry Hawkins to Ronnie in 2013 and it's not even close for me."

His claim certainly split opinions online, with @Alex_snooker147 replying: "Hawkins never got close. Started well then went missing halfway through before picking up a couple of frames at the end."

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@muns0n added: "Behave. Barry didn't clear from Ronnies mistakes to snatch frames."

Meanwhile, @pkmckay147 was in agreement, saying: "I backed Barry that year and always felt his performance was overlooked. That black down the cushion 13-12 behind (I think) was key - Barry had played superbly to close the gap and had momentum. Ronnie cleared up and went into terminator mode."

Murphy kept his head held high after the defeat though, saying: "I'd like to be the first to congratulate Wu Yize and his family, and everyone around him for being a wonderful world champion. "I hate being right.

"I said sometime earlier in the season, we had a great game out in China somewhere, and I managed to win that one. I came out afterwards and said that he would be World Champion one day."

Before adding: "It's just a real shame that it was today, but I couldn't have given it anymore, I couldn't have tried harder. I played the best shots I could have played, and I didn't get my chance. I couldn't do any more than that."

Wu pocketed a £50,000 prize for his win, and jumped all the way up to fourth in the world rankings. He became the second consecutive Chinese potter to win the World Championship, following in the footsteps of Zhao Xintong, who took the title last year.