Robertson: You'll see a new Neil Robertson this season

Australia's greatest ever snooker player Neil Robertson said that he is confident he will get back to title-winning form this season in an exclusive interview with China Daily at the 2017 Little Swan Snooker World Cup in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on July 4.

The former world champion has been debilitated by a serious gaming addiction in recent years that he believes has affected his form, leading to his world ranking slipping to number seven.

But after opening up about his problems in April, the 35-year-old says that he is on track to recapture the form that won him twelve ranking events including the Triple Crown of World Championship, UK Championship and Masters titles.

"I've been dealing with quite a few things off the table which has prevented me from focusing on snooker," he told China Daily. "But you will see a new Neil Robertson you used to see this season.”

The Australian showed flashes of his old brilliance during the World Cup. Robertson's break building was key to Australia's comfortable 4-1 wins over Switzerland and Pakistan, but his rookie partner Kurt Dunham was always going to struggle to cope in matches against talented Iran and England sides. Two 4-1 losses against the latter teams eventually saw Australia eliminated from Group C.

"Kurt is a new challenger and he does not have much experience, so I guess there are not so many people expecting too much from us, but we're doing well so far," said Robertson after his win against Pakistan on Tuesday.

The world number seven's fans also seemed encouraged by his performances in Wuxi. "He was in full control of the table in the first frame against Iran's Vahedi," said Adam Fan, one of his fans. "I think he is taking the match as seriously as any other tournament."

With the 2017-2018 season just beginning, the Melbourne Machine looks to be in full working order and primed to make pot after pot once more.

Neil Robertson lines up a shot in Australia's match against Pakistan at the 2017 Little Swan Snooker World Cup in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on July 4.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]