Snooker star Neil Robertson reveals what saved him from 'dangerous' obsession

Neil Robertson has revealed how taking up saved him from the “dangerous ” of online . The snooker star, who begins his campaign at the Crucible this weekend, developed an unhealthy obsession with computer games.

The Australian cueist, 43, used to spend hours a day on games like FIFA Ultimate Team, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft, which adversely impacted other parts of his life. Now, unless he’s in a hotel with time to kill, he barely touches them and feels better for it.

new, healthier passion away from is , which he often plays with his son. The 2010 world champion explained: “Golf has been massive for my mental health, it’s been really good.

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“I’ve quit all the video games. It’s been good to have that mental reset. Outside, fresh air, conversations with nice people, it’s a good thing.

“It’s become a hobby and I’m getting quite good at it. That helps because I see a few people on the course not looking like they’re having the best of times!

“It started when my son asked me to take him to a range. I started smacking balls around and thought, ‘This is nice’.”

Recalling how serious his computer game addiction became, he said: “It was FIFA Ultimate Team around 2014/2015. I quit that because that was a really unhealthy relationship, massively so.

“League of Legends, another online game. All these games are competitive; that’s the issue with them.

“In World of Warcraft, I became one of the best in the world for my specific class, which was crazy. But it shows you how seriously I take things when I do them - and that’s the issue.

“Whatever I do, I have to try and be as good as I can be at it. That’s a pretty dangerous world when it comes to video games because six hours can fly by in no time.

"It’s not a healthy thing to do. I get dragged into too much. I play them competitively and it gets serious. It’s one thing taking a with you to tournaments for when you’re chilling in a hotel, that’s fine.

"But gaming at home is something I would never do again, especially when you’ve got kids and responsibilities. You can forget things, like taking the bins out!

“That’s a big positive about golf, getting my son into as well. He absolutely loves it.”

Robertson's full focus for the foreseeable will be on the World Championship, which gets underway on Saturday. He heads into the tournament on the back of one of the best seasons of his career, feeling optimistic of claiming his second Crucible crown 15 years on from the first.