Former champion Graeme Dott booked his place in the second round of the World Championship with a 10-8 win over Ricky Walden at the Crucible Theatre on Sunday.
In other matches, Hong Kong’s Marco Fu beat England’s Jimmy Robertson while Australia’s Neil Roberston, the 2010 world champion, established a 7-2 lead over Wales’ Jamie Jones.
The 37-year-old Dott, who had to qualify for this season’s showpiece event after slipping down the rankings, has increasingly found himself at odds with the best of seven frame clashes that are the mainstay of a modern professional snooker event.
But the longer form of the game suits Dott’s more considered style and the 2006 world champion, also the runner-up in 2004 and 2010, again showed his liking for conditions at the Crucible in Sheffield, northern England, comparing himself to the stayer that wins British horse-racing’s gruelling Grand National.
“It’s got to suit me,” Dott said. “If you compare it to horse racing, I’m a Grand National horse but all I’m ever running is seven furlongs, it’s just not long enough.”
The Scot added: “It was nice to win because I wasn’t here last year, which was a horrible feeling.
“It’s nice to know you can still do it at the Crucible. I’m 37 and when you don’t qualify you think maybe that’s me finished.
“I played a good game and I’m delighted to win.”
However, Dott is still angry at having had to play three qualifying matches just to reach this stage when, under the old format, a player with his record would only have had to play one match before the main event.
“If you get qualifiers that are just happy to be here at the Crucible, and get their pictures taken, the three matches help,” Dott said.
“But if you’ve got aspirations to win it, it’s going to hinder you later on.
“You can see fatigue kicking in if you got to the semis, because of those three extra matches.
“I’ve been to three finals and know how tiring it is.”
Words: AFP
Photo: DerHexer via Wikimedia Commons
