Neil Robertson plans to complain to snooker chiefs as he is certain the pockets were bigger than usual at the international Championship. The Australian made his comments during the tournament before Ding Junhui clinched his 15th ranking title by defeating Chris Wakelin in the final.

Robertson was in action at the tournament in China as he thrashed home favourite Fan Zhengyi 6-0 in his opening match.

But he was dumped out in the second round after losing to 2013 World Snooker Championship finalist Barry Hawkins.

After his exit, Robertson assessed the state of play at the event. And he explained: “The pockets are definitely on the over-generous side.

“A lot of the skill is taken away. It just means the safety game is so important to create that first opportunity. I'll be bringing it up at the Players Board.”

And he added: “They shouldn't really be allowed to be that big at professional level. It is important to the fans watching that the product is genuine and not overinflated. But it is the same for both players.”

Robertson has lashed out at the pocket sizes in China in the past and made his thoughts clear following the Wuhan Open and International Championship last year as he stated: “The variance in the pocket size in the last couple of years has been a massive leveller in the sport.

“And the last two tournaments in China were an absolute joke. They were like club tables. I mean, I know Judd [Trump] won in Wuhan, but if someone else won that tournament - and obviously the International Championship for me - those two tournaments should have massive asterisks next to them.

“If any individual record was broken, like centuries in a row or anything like that, it shouldn't even count. It's just insane. It's like the swimmers years ago when they were smashing records with those suits, it's a similar thing.”

But a WST spokesperson hit back at the time by explaining: “We are very proud of our tables and we are proud of our team of incredibly talented table fitters. Conditions on the tour will always be challenging.

“Snooker tables are not designed to be moved from venue to venue, they are designed to be left in situ and allowed to settle.

“We have invested huge amounts in improving our equipment and facilities and we have increased the team to help with delivering consistently good table conditions.

“The pockets are always cut to template and representatives from both the WPBSA and the WPBSA Players Board are present in this process and signing off the tables. We always welcome feedback from players through the right channels.”