Player List

Graeme Dott

After a nightmare start to the 2008/09 season, Graeme Dott fought back bravely to get his career back on track going into the 2009/10 campaign.
The second tournament in 08/09 was the Roewe Shanghai Masters, and Dott suffered the misfortune of a broken wrist while playing in goal during a friendly football kick-about with other players just before his opeing match. He was forced to pull out of the tournament and also missed the Royal London Watches Grand Prix then lost his opening game against Barry Pinches at the Bahrain Snooker Championship. At that stage, Dott hadn�t won a match in a ranking event for 16 months � a sequence which covered ten tournaments. But he finally broke his drought by beating Ken Doherty 9-4 at the Maplin UK Championship.
"Last season I was losing matches all the time and I wasn�t in a fit state mentally,� admitted the Scot. �This season I only played one match - against Dave Harold in Belfast - then I broke my arm. It was a nightmare because at the time I felt that I was getting my game back, so the last few months have been very frustrating.�
He lost in the second round in Telford, but went on to win his opening match in the Welsh Open then reach the quarter-finals of the Bank of Beijing China Open, courtesy of victories over Yu Delu and Mark Selby.
That gave Dott some welcome confidence as he headed into the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, and his Crucible campaign started with a 10-8 victory over Barry Hawkins in a match of exceptional quality. �I�ve been involved in a lot of good matches, not just at the Crucible, but as far as standard goes that�s the best match I�ve been involved in,� he said. In the last 16, he put up a battle against Selby, but eventually lost 13-10.
Dott dropped out of the top 16 for the first time since 2001 and said: �After breaking my wrist, I�ve not played as many matches as everyone else. I�ve gradually got better and I�m not far away from the player I was. I�ve got to go to Prestatyn now and play in the qualifiers, I�m not looking forward to it but I need to do it.I�ve no doubt I�ll get back in the top 16, but it depends how I get on in the qualifiers. I�ve never been to Prestatyn, it used to be Blackpool when I was a kid, and back then I was happy to be there.�
The Pocket Dynamo amazed the snooker world by going all the way to snooker�s biggest title in 2006.
Wins over John Parrott and Nigel Bond, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O�Sullivan put him into the Crucible final - an epic battle against Peter Ebdon. Dott led 15-7 before his opponent mounted a bold comeback. The 27th frame alone lasted a record 74 minutes and the match eventually finished at nearly 1am � and the Scot was the last man standing. A brilliant 68 clearance put him 17-14 ahead and he clinched the title in the next.
Dott�s jubilation was plain to see as he kissed the famous trophy, punched the air in delight and celebrated on stage with wife Elaine.
"To win the World Championship as my first title is a dream come true," said the man who had broken his own cue at a motorway service station in despair at the state of his game just three years earlier. "I hope I�ll get some recognition now and I hope this will be the first of many titles."
The following week, the Rangers fan fulfilled another dream by parading the trophy in front of a packed Ibrox.
The following season, he doubled his tally of ranking titles by winning the China Open.
After beating star players Neil Robertson, John Higgins and Ronnie O�Sullivan to reach the final, Dott saw off Jamie Cope 9-5 in the final.
"The world is the big one but this one means a lot," said Dott. "Usually I lose in the first round here but I�ve beaten Ronnie O�Sullivan and John Higgins on my way to the title here so I�ve done it the hard way."
Dott had previously appeared in four ranking finals, finishing runner-up to Stephen Hendry at the 1999 Scottish Open and 2005 Malta Cup, to Higgins at the 2001 British Open and to O�Sullivan at the Crucible in 2004.
He is a keen golfer, playing to a single figure handicap, and also enjoys playing poker and listening to the music of Frank Sinatra. Wife Elaine gave birth to their first son, Lewis, in 2004 and a daughter called Lucy in 2008.

Back to all Players