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Graeme Dott

After going from the top of the world to the depths of despair, Graeme Dott almost came full circle at the end of the 2009/10 season with an incredible run at the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.
The Larkhall cueman conquered the Crucible in 2006, but subsequently suffered a dip in form which saw him go 16 months without winning a match in a ranking event, coinciding with a bout of depression. He dropped out of the top 16, but bravely fought back to regain his place among the elite after just one season’s absence.
Dott was impressively consistent, reaching the last 32 of the Roewe Shanghai Masters, Pukka Pies UK Championship and Sanyuan Foods China Open and the last 16 of the totesport.com Welsh Open.
On to the Crucible and he was considered a dark horse by many, especially when he beat Peter Ebdon 10-5 then stunned World No 2 Stephen Maguire by a 13-6 scoreline. Dott trailed Mark Allen 12-10 in the quarter-finals but hit back to win 13-12; a result which ensured his return to the top 16.
But he was not done there, beating Mark Selby 17-14 in the semis, to become the only player to reach the final at Sheffield three times since 2004. He led Neil Robertson 5-3 after the first session, but trailed 9-7 overnight and was never able to get back on level terms, eventually losing 18-13 in a match which lasted until almost 1am.
“I know it sounds strange but I’m not disappointed, there is nothing else I could have done,” he said. “I tried as hard as everybody knows I could but there was nothing I could do that was going to change the outcome of the match.”
The Pocket Dynamo amazed the snooker world by going all the way to the 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.
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.

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