Snooker world championship final preview
Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott will compete in the snooker world championship final later on today. Both have been the form players in the tournament. Robertson is looking be the first ever Australian world champion, while Dott is looking to add to his triumph here in 2006.
Robertson defeated 2008 Crucible runner-up Ali Carter 17-12 in his semi-final encounter, and Dott beat The Jester from Leicester Mark Selby 17-14. It is amazing to think how Robertson has made it to the final. In the last-16, he found himself 6-0, 11-5 and 12-10 down to qualifier Martin Gould in the race to thirteen. The left-handed Aussie miraculously pulled the win out of the fire after one of the greatest comebacks in Crucible history and has not looked back ever since. He beat legend Steve Davis in the quarter-finals as well.
He is the first Australian to make it to the final since the late Eddie Charlton 27 years ago. "It means an awful lot. It's not the best achievement of my career - I still think winning a ranking event final is better - but it's a very proud moment. I was under a lot of pressure. You represent your country and everyone is very excited back home. Apparently they might be showing the final live now, and that would be unbelievable,” said Robertson.
Robertson’s opponent Dott has been in fine form in the tournament, and has dispatched the likes of Peter Ebdon, a former world champion, Stephen Maguire and Mark Selby, all players who are ranking event winners. Since he was world champion in 2006, The Scotsman only has the China Open to add to his collection, which he won in 2007. It is a welcome return to form for Dott, who over the last few seasons has had to suffer with the loss of his manager and father-in-law Alex Lambie and a cancer scare from his wife Elaine, as well as depression.
His aim before the tournament was to get back into the top 16 for next season, and he secured this by reaching the semi-finals. Now, he wants to get his hands on a second world crown. He overcame bookies favourite Selby last night in an epic semi-final and showed his true grit and determination to cross the finishing line.
“I’m just relieved more than anything else. There were loads of doubts, I had doubts all day. With the utmost respect to Mark Selby he is very difficult to play against. You don't get any rhythm when you play him, he's very similar to Peter Ebdon, even if he's not break building. He can keep you off the table for so long I was really struggling with my pace. I just felt I had no rhythm,” said Dott.
Dott is playing better than he did when he won the world championship in 2006 and has put the troubled past behind him, improving on his game. “There's no doubt I'm playing better. It's unbelievable, it's a massive full circle. I'd fallen that far down the rankings you think your career is finished, that you might never be back let alone play on TV again or getting to the final at the Crucible.
“I've been buzzing all through the tournament. I've played really well all the way through. I struggled a bit near the end of that match last night. Hopefully, Neil Robertson is pretty attacking so I should be ok. If we both play the way we've been playing, that's what will happen. There is no reason why it shouldn't, it's not that any of us is playing badly,” said Dott.
The final will be played over four sessions, beginning at 2pm this afternoon, and will be played over the best-of-35 frames. First to 18 will become world champion.
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