It's a kind of magic as Dott wins big one

Published on Tuesday 2 May 2006 14:13

QUEEN fan Graeme Dott could have been forgiven for thinking 'is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?' after winning his first 888.com World Championship snooker crown in a marathon final with Peter Ebdon.

Dott was an 80-1 outsider at the start of the tournament but his wish to be taken more seriously will be realised after he triumphed 18-14 and collected the 200,000 first prize.

It completed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Rangers fanatic Dott who was at his lowest ebb two-and-a-half years ago when he broke his cue in half at an M6 service station on his way home from the Welsh Open.

The match was never a classic but will be remembered for the longest frame in 29 years of world snooker at the Crucible Theatre - 74 minutes and eight seconds in frame 27. That surpassed the 69 minutes required for Dennis Taylor to defeat Steve Davis on the final black in the gripping climax to the 1985 final.

Dott admitted he thought his chances of taking the crown were slipping away after Ebdon won six frames in a row to reduce his deficit to 15-13.

He said: "This is a dream come true and a big turnaround from when I broke my cue. I think I might have done the same had I not won! I honestly thought I had blown it.

"I felt drained. I lost the first four frames of the session and at the interval I was just very flat which was pathetic because I was 15-11 up and there was no reason for me to be flat. But I felt tired and thought if it goes close I don't fancy it because I'm just too tired. I really couldn't see myself winning the way my mind was working and I was so negative. Thank God I changed after the interval."

A superb clearance of 68 in frame 31 proved the turning point and Dott admitted: "That's probably the best clearance I have ever made.When I went three up with four to play I felt I had done enough. I was playing well again and couldn't see Peter winning all four after that.

"I would have been glad to win any tournament. For my first tournament win to be in the world final is fantastic."

Ebdon only found his best form in the final session and was full of praise for Dott, who has now climbed to number five in the rankings for next season.

He said: "Graeme played some outstanding safety, made things very scrappy. He is very good at that and is a real tough player to beat and deserves to be world champion. The clearance under pressure at 17-14 was absolute class.I just left myself a bit too much to do. I had a really bad day on Sunday. It was embarrassing for me and I really struggled.

"The run of the balls got to me. They were relentless against me. That's not taking anything away from Graeme whatsoever, he played real hard match snooker."

Dott's victory has pushed him into the top five of the WPBSA rankings for the 2006-2007 campaign. The 28-year-old has piled more misery on Ebdon by climbing above him into fifth position - a rise of eight places.

Back at number one after an eight-year absence is Stephen Hendry despite his first-round exit at the hands of Nigel Bond at the Crucible Theatre. Hendry has not lifted a title in 2005-2006 but the seven-times world champion has been a consistent performer during the past season.

2006-2007 rankings:

1 Stephen Hendry (2, 2005-2006); 2, Ken Doherty (11); 3, Ronnie O'Sullivan (1); 4, John Higgins (6); 5, Graeme Dott (13); 6, Shaun Murphy (21); 7, Peter Ebdon (7); 8, Mark Williams (9); 9, Stephen Maguire (3); 10, Stephen Lee (10); 11, Steve Davis (15); 12, Barry Hawkins (30); 12, Neil Robertson (28); 14, Matthew Stevens (4); 15, Ali Carter (19); 16, Anthony Hamilton (17).