Dott keeps place among the elite

Graeme Dott’s heroic performance in reaching the final of the Embassy World Championship final – with a cue which cost him nothing – has enabled him to cling onto his place in the top 16 for the 2004-2005 campaign.

The 26-year-old from Glasgow had slipped down to 26 in the provisional rankings for next season before beginning his campaign at The Crucible Theatre.

But his splendid achievements in Sheffield before being beaten by Ronnie O’Sullivan ensure that he will be in the number 15 berth.

It is a remarkable turn-around for a player who considered quitting the game in January after deliberately breaking his cue in frustration at his alarming loss of form.

Dott’s manager – and father in law – Alex Lambie said: “At one stage Graeme was fighting for a top 32 place. He would not have minded had he ended the season as a 19 or 20 – which would have been the case if he had not got to the final.

“That would have meant just having to get through one game to qualify for the latter stages of tournaments. But once you are outside the top 32 it becomes hard.

“It has been an incredible turn-around because, after the first part of the season, Graeme was at the lowest ebb he could ever have been.

“I was in the car with him coming back from the Welsh Open when it was decision time regarding his cue.

“I said take a wee walk and decide what you are going to do. He got back into the car and said ‘I’ve done it, I’ve broken it’.

“I had been advising him for two years that it was a bad cue but he wouldn’t change it. Now the new one has propelled him to the top level again.

“He got it from a friend of ours in Glasgow called Andy Gibb who makes his own cues. He laid some on the table and Graeme saw this old one he liked. I think it was worth £20 (€29) but he never charged him!

“Graeme settled into the cue within a week and kept phoning me up saying ‘I’m playing great with this’ and things have gone on from there.

“He has said it is a pity that this is not the beginning of the season, not the end, but I think this will be a good stepping stone for him to kick on next year.”

Dott’s £125,000 (€185,464) pay-day – by far the biggest of his 10-year professional career – could not have been better timed.

Lambie explained: “Apart from being in the top 16, Graeme is just going to have a child (with wife Elaine) and is moving into a new house. He will be well pleased with the prize money!”

O’Sullivan had already been confirmed as the new number one in the rankings after his 17-4 demolition of Stephen Hendry in the semi-finals.

He has replaced Mark Williams who has dropped down to two with Hendry slipping one place to three.

Quinten Hann – involved in an ugly bust-up with Andy Hicks in the first round - and Joe Perry have dropped out of the 16 with Chris Small and Marco Fu joining the elite.

Rankings for 2004-2005 – 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan, 2 Mark Williams, 3 Stephen Hendry, 4 Paul Hunter, 5 John Higgins, 6 Matthew Stevens, 7 Ken Doherty, 8 Peter Ebdon, 9 Stephen Lee, 10 Alan McManus, 11 Jimmy White, 12 Chris Small, 13 Steve Davis, 14 David Gray, 15 Graeme Dott, 16 Marco Fu.