Since his 2006 Crucible triumph Graeme Dott has endured a torrid time both on and off the table as he battled with depression and lost his top 16 place as a result, but happily the man from Scotland has now completed his revival with a very impressive 13-12 victory over Mark Allen this afternoon…
He might not be everyone’s most favoured player and is probably one of the most underrated on the tour, but Graeme Dott proved once again that he can compete with the best today as he recovered from 12-10 down to win the deciding frame.
Resuming the session level at 8-8 it was Graeme who made the better start as he went 10-8 ahead with breaks of 65 and 54 before Mark Allen hit back to take the next four, though perhaps telling without making a half-century break in the process.
One frame away from seeing his dream of a return to the top 16 and a second world title coming to an end however, Graeme’s response was in Mark’s own words to play three perfect frames, a break of 115 starting the comeback before he eventually completed a notable victory with a run of 41 in the 25th and final frame.
For Graeme his joy at winning the match was there for all to see and while he is not necessarily my favourite player on the tour, I have been very impressed with his performances this week and just had a feeling that he would come through this one as stated yesterday. From what I have seen of him so far this tournament he does really seem to be playing at least as well as when he won his first world title back in 2006 and with a Crucible re-match against either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Mark Selby looming, could prove tough to beat.
Full credit too to Graeme for his efforts this season as while not spectacular before this week at least, he has won five of his six qualifying matches and thanks to this win moves back up inside the top 16 after just one season out. As players such as Stephen Lee and Matthew Stevens have demonstrated, returning to that bracket is by no means a formality but Graeme has got the job done.
Spare a thought for Jamie Cope though, after so many near misses it looked like this might finally be his year to break into the top 16 but Graeme’s result means that he will miss out once again, finishing up in 17th position. How many more chances will he need?
Over on Table One meanwhile, the Melbourne Machine Neil Robertson completed a comfortable 13-5 victory over Steve Davis with a century break, though not before Steve had experienced and interesting introduction as Rob Walker called him Dennis Taylor!
It was always going to be a tough one for Steve, indeed in many ways he had already had his final against John Higgins but he can be more than proud of his efforts which have not only written another chapter in his glittering career, but also moved him up to 28th on the one-year list and in with a realistic chance of remaining a top 32 player for a while yet.
Neil though (my pre-tournament tip let’s not forget :P), moves on to the last four for a second successive year and could yet go all the way and become only the second left-hander to lift the crown…