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Neil Robertson speaks out after two rival players enter snooker's Hall of Fame

Neil Roberson has criticised the criteria around the World Snooker Tour's Hall of Fame after Zhao Xintong and Mark Allen became the latest players to be inducted

[Neil Robertson]

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Neil Robertson has given his take on snooker's hall of fame(Image: Tai Chengzhe/VCG via Getty Images)

Neil Robertson has blasted snooker's Hall of Fame, claiming it is too easy to get inducted, after Zhao Xintong and Mark Allen were recognised.

Robertson himself was admitted to the Hame of Fame back in 2013, three years after he won the World Championship at the Crucible. The Australian was 31 at the time and not far into his career.

Now 44, he feels the system is recognising players far too early in their careers. Xintong, who won the World Championship in 2025 to become the first Chinese winner, is just 29 years old.

Quote-tweeting someone who said, "Way too easy to get into the snooker Hall of Fame", Robertson wrote on X: "Many others including myself got in when we were in our 20/30s. Absolutely ridiculous when the real big-hitter sports have people with stellar careers get in when they are in their mid 40s or 50s.

"It should be something that is earned through decades of work and reputation. Dont get me wrong Im proud to be in it but it seems like a given if you have a half decent career, which it is not meant to be about that imo."

Three-time world champion Mark Williams appeared to agree with Robertson. "I thought hall of fame was when you retired your get in?" the Welshman wrote on X.

Asked if he was in the Hall of Fame, Williams replied: "No idea who's in it, if I had a choice I don't want to be in it anyway."

The 51-year-old, who won the World Championship in 2000, 2003 and 2018, is a member of the Hall of Fame.

[Zhao Xintong]

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Zhao Xintong won the World Championship in 2025(Image: Getty)

Xintong and Allen are the latest players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson and 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel.

Of modern-day players, Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins are all also in the select group of elite players.

The Hall of Fame was created in 2011 by the World Snooker Tour, with the initial eight inductees all multiple-time world champions. Xintong and Allen are the 39th and 40th additions.

It is awarded to those who have made an "outstanding contribution to our great sport during their lifetime" and includes "iconic players and world champions" as well as "those who have played a fundamental part in the administration of snooker and billiards worldwide".

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