Scottish Open: Neil Robertson beats Cao Yupeng 9-8 in dramatic final

Neil Robertson believes he has taken his game to a 'new level' recently

Neil Robertson won the final five frames in dramatic fashion to defeat Cao Yupeng 9-8 in a scintillating Scottish Open final.

Australia's former world number one had never been ahead in the match until he secured the deciding frame in Glasgow.

It is the 35-year-old's first ranking title since June 2016.

"I've never experienced that before in my life in a match of that magnitude where I'm out, basically, and then somehow I get another chance," he said.

"Especially with how well Yupeng was playing to be 8-4. He just completely outplayed me.

"Up to that stage, I thought it was one of the best performances ever against me.

"Some of the mistakes he made towards the end I was expecting at the start of the match.

"From 8-4, I was counting on some nerves or jitters from him and I started noticing he was not timing his cue action as well.

"I was super aggressive, all-out attack, to put him under pressure.

"We should get more events in Scotland!"

China's Cao, who made a maximum 147 break in the first round on Tuesday and defeated Judd Trump in the semi-final, was denied his first ranking title.

Cao, 27, led Robertson 3-1 at the first mid-session interval after breaks of 82, 72, and 60.

Robertson pulled it back to 3-2 before Cao re-focused and took the following two frames to give himself a 5-2 advantage over the 2010 world champion.

But the Melbourne man, aiming for a 13th ranking title, stayed in contention by winning the eighth frame to reduce his deficit to 5-3 at the end of the afternoon session.

Cao Yupeng fell to defeat at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow

Cao appeared to have the Stephen Hendry trophy within his clutches when he came back out to take three of the next four frames, leaving him 8-4 ahead.

Yet, against all the odds, Robertson amazingly clawed back the deficit to make it 8-8 - winning an unbelievable battle in the 16th frame when both players needed the pink and black to complete the job.

The deciding frame was more straightforward for Robertson, meaning he has now won titles in Scotland four times.

Cao told BBC Scotland: "I don't know how to say my feelings just now. I put too much pressure on myself.

"My heart needs to be stronger. That's what I need to learn from Neil and the top 16 players."