People could be forgiven for forgetting bearing in mind the events of the last 24 hours but we have a world final on at the moment and I was there today to see an intriguing day of snooker on the table between Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott…
Arriving at the Crucible this afternoon the atmosphere was undeniably out of the ordinary considering that it was the day of the World Championship final as the subject on everyone’s lips was not that match, but instead the latest developments on the John Higgins saga (can we call it a saga yet?). Indeed the arena seemed a little flat and with the rows of empty seats, the first session had the feel of a first round encounter to an extent, similar to back in 2006 when Graeme was up against Peter Ebdon.
Perhaps unsurprisingly bearing in mind the occasion, the play reflected that as both players looked ill at ease during the afternoon session, in particular Neil Robertson. Importantly from his point of view however he was able to minimise the damage by stealing two crucial frames at 3-1 down to level the match and 3-3 and although Dott won the last two, he probably should have lead by more.
At the interval I managed to get several photos of the World Championship trophy before heading outside for a few hours before play resumed at 8pm. One man that I managed to meet was Paul Mount who as the manager of Reanne Evans confirmed that she had been awarded a main tour place for next season (see here), while Clive Everton was also in the foyer giving a television interview on the Higgins saga. Indeed there were a number of camera crews in the vicinity, perhaps unsurprising bearing in mind the magnitude of the story.
Also around was Martin Gould who will finally head for home tomorrow, while referee Leo Scullion was also out and about.
Eventually though it was time to head on up for the evening session and as is often the case, the atmosphere was much improved with MC Rob Walker, Steve Davis and John Parrott entertaining the crowd before the start of play. Amusingly John and Steve went into the crowd to kiss the cheek of a lady celebrating her 70th birthday while Steve’s comment of “sing us a song” almost provoked a rendition of ‘Is this the way to amarillo’ only to be halted by a lack of time. Rob says that he will try to get that going today instead.
Trailing 5-3, Robertson needed to get off to a good start to avoid an insurmountable deficit opening up and avoid a similar fate to that of Mark Selby in his semi-final. This is exactly what he did as Graeme immediately looked to be the one now out of sorts and Neil appeared to have a real spring in his step, taking the opening frame with an well-taken break of 61.
Graeme had his chances in the following frame before Neil levelled with a break of 90 but by far the biggest frame of the session was the 11th as Graeme looked to have responded in fine style to re-take the lead with a break of 72 which left Neil leaving a snooker. As commentator Ken Doherty noted at the time however, his decision to play a risky double rather than a good safety shot following ‘frame ball’ came back to haunt him as Neil forced an error with an excellent snooker and eventually took the frame to a re-spotted black. Again it was to be another failed attempt at a double which would cost Graeme and as Neil sank the black, he celebrated with a clenched fist and followed up by adding the next frame for good measure to turn the match completely on its head.
By now Graeme’s body language was very poor and having been the one to dominate the first session, he was now in real danger of seeing the match slip away from him and Neil then extended his lead to 8-5. Graeme is a real fighter however and now it was Neil who was beginning to miss, allowing Graeme to steal frames 14 and 15 with breaks of 56 and 53 to close the gap to just one frame. Suddenly it was Neil looking to be under pressure, perhaps relaxing having ensured that he would not be behind overnight and now Graeme looked to be an entirely different player. Crucially however the Scot could not take his chances in the final frame and it was Neil who finished up the session with a two frame advantage.
The match is now perfectly poised heading into tomorrow, indeed I cannot remember the last time the two players were separated by just two frames heading into the third session of the World Championship final, though something tells me that it might actually be the 2002 classic between Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon! Prior to the match I had fancied Graeme to come through and the way Neil played this afternoon I did not see any reason to change my mind, but unlike Selby in the semi-final he was able to take advantage of Dott’s wobble and turn things around completely. A two frame difference means little in a four session match however and it is now harder than ever to predict which way the match will go on the final day.
Aside from the play, I cannot complete this report without mentioning the amusing incident which saw referee Eirian Williams trip over a camera cable, right in front of colleagues Brendan Moore and Colin Humphries who like most people took a few shots to stop giggling! I think what was particularly amusing was the way that Eirian patted the cameraman on the head and looked at him to suggest that it was his fault, yet the cameraman simply shrugged his shoulders and probably had not even seen it. On that note I counted ten cameras in the arena yesterday, surely a new record!
Could be a long final day, particularly with the 3pm and 8pm start times…