Healthy diet plants the seed for Neil Robertson's success after progress at the ManBetX Welsh Open
By Will Jennings
Neil Robertson revealed a plant-based diet has been a key ingredient in his recent success.
The 38-year-old snooker player, who lives in Cambridge, made it 20 wins from 21 ranking matches on Wednesday night, beating Mark Joyce in the second round at the ManBetX Welsh Open to extend his stunning record.
And the world No 2, who is a vegan, believes his lifestyle choice has been fundamental in contributing to him reaching three finals - winning two - in the last two weeks.
“I feel good and revitalised, and physically I feel fantastic,” he said.
“I think the key thing is that over the last few weeks I’ve looked after myself really well - I haven’t fallen into any bad habits of late night snacking on junk food and things.
“That can have a knock-on effect where you feel a bit ordinary the next morning, so I’ve been eating really well which is important.
“A plant-based diet definitely helps - you automatically exclude yourself from food poisoning, which can happen when you’re travelling a lot round airports and different countries.
“I believe it really helps me, and many other athletes believe the same - I think it gives me a slight edge when it comes to travelling in that I don’t seem to pick up little niggly colds as much as the other players and things like that.
“And today was huge playing at night as it meant I got a full day’s rest, so physically I feel great.”
Robertson had spoken of his fatigue the previous evening at the competition, coming straight off the back of lifting the World Grand Prix trophy in Cheltenham on Sunday night.
The 18-time ranking event winner also reigned supreme at the European Masters in Austria two weekends before, losing out to world No 1 Judd Trump in the final of the German Masters during the week in between.
And while he knows being vegan is an important aspect of his success, he is not oblivious to the occasional challenges it can still bring.
“You can eat unhealthy vegan food as well, but it’s important when you’re competing to eat as healthily as you can and give yourself the best chance of doing well,” he added.
“I had to be careful last year as I was bought a pack of vegan doughnuts, as you can easily tuck into two or three of those and then you wake up the next morning and your eyes are completely bloodshot.
“I know we don’t run around like footballers and sports like that, but I think it is still really important to stay healthy.”
Watch the Welsh Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds
