2007 888.com World Championship

MATCH BY MATCH LIVE MATCH NOTES [CLICK ON MATCH FOR LIVE COMMENTARY, NEWS, QUOTES]

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GRAEME DOTT v IAN McCULLOCH

Round One - Match 1 (Best of 19 frames)

A good crowd welcomes both players into the packed arena, before Ian breaks off in frame 1. Eirian Williams is the referee for this match. This is the third time both players have met.  McCulloch who has recently had two 147s in an exhibition match will be looking to get some big breaks. McCulloch breaks down on 22 and leaves Dott with an easy opener, although Dott fails to capitalise breaking down on 7. Both players taking advantage of the excellent table conditions. Both players in an exchange of safety play.  Dott looking anxious to show off his new attacking style of play and demonstrating his keen safety skills. McCulloch has won the last two meetings between these to two players although Dott is showing his mastery.  It is a low scoring frame with only six reds remaining and the black is covering a corner pocket, although Dott spread the remaining the reds. Dott fails to make contact with one of the reds and leaves McCulloch with a free ball.  Dott makes his third attempt and hits the red, but leaves Ian with half a chance to pot some of the balls.  McCulloch plays a hard shot to continue the break but leaves the cue ball in an awkward position, pots the green and then needs a long extension to play a hard cut into the corner but breaks down on 18.  Dott replies knocking in an easy red followed with the green, red and blue to get good position on the last red, before fouling to leave McCulloch with an easy shot on the brown before potting the blue to take the frame safe and potting the pink after it wobbles to take the first frame.  

As we go into the second frame, both players still seem a little uneasy and are taking their time in adjusting to the atmosphere and conditions in snooker's most famous venue.  Dott misses all 15 reds as the cue ball goes down the table and again as the white heads back to baulk.  He does get a few quiet noises from the audience as he does a little jig in exasperation.  McCulloch is at the table and building a break.  There are a number of reds available and McCulloch is taking the opportunity to continue to settle down as the break increases.  On 27, the black sport is covered and the black has to go up to the green spot, which will make a high scoring break a little harder. The break ends on 28 and Dott comes to the table and does not get good position, having to play a safety shot to end his break of 13.  McCulloch comes to the table and plays a slow shot to get the cue ball to rest on a red although gently taps the pink.  Dott has the balls replaced and gives McCulloch another chance. The black remains up in baulk and the players have to rely on the pink to assist in the break-building.  Dott takes the lead in the second frame with a break of 14.  Our information shows that we have viewers from a far a way as Moscow watching the developments in this match. Three reds remain and McCulloch trails by one point at 34-33. Dott clears the reds and looks set to take the second frame.  Missing the green, allows McCulloch the chance to return to the table, although he requires all the remaining balls. Dott pots a difficult green but misses the brown.  McCulloch requires snookers and immediately put the cue ball behind the pink with the brown up near the bottom cushion. Dott is 26 points ahead with only 22 points remaining and is comfortably getting out of the snookers that McCulloch needs.  McCulloch pots the brown and reduces the options but Dott sinks the pink to win the frame and level the score line.  Both players sit in their seats while Eirian Williams sets the table for the third frame.  Eirian will be the referee of this years final, and Dott will be hoping that he is there to lift the title for a second time. 

Frame three gets underway and McCulloch opens the scoring, although returns to his chair after scoring only six points.  The cue ball seems to be playing on the light side and proving inconsistent.  Both players are exchanging safety play.  With a 78%potting success rate, McCulloch has a narrow lead.  Although it may not seem a convincing start for Dott, he is looking to progress to the latter stages, not only to lift the title but to become No.1 on the ranking list. Dott has enjoyed his year as World Champion, but it has been a roller-coaster of a ride, suffering the death of his father-in-law and manager, Alex Lambie, through cancer and then similar health scares with his wife Elaine.  Meanwhile, on the table, Dott has capitalised to set the highest break of the match so far, with a break of 61, to win the frame and lead the match 2-1. 

Dott breaks off in frame four, looking more composed and comfortable. However, it is McCulloch again who opens the scoring in this frame before the interval, getting his highest break of 29 so far in this match.  Dott, who turns 30 on his birthday next month, returns to his chair, shaking his head and letting McCulloch get to the table to after playing a poor safety shot. McCulloch makes a break of 25 before cannoning a red into the corner pocket and nudging the pink, leaving a safety shot to knock the blue safe.  McCulloch is 53 ahead in this frame with 67 remaining and is being eagerly cheered on by his loyal army of supporters.  McCulloch scores a break of 8, to leave four reds and Dott requiring snookers.  The balls are not spread in Dott's favour and it will be hard for him to win the frame.  McCulloch pots a red and Dott concedes the frame, although speaks to referee Williams before leaving the arena for the interval, with the scores tied at 2-2. Remember you can join our debates on the matches on the

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Both players return to the playing arena from their dressing rooms, having had to time reflect on their performances in the opening 4 frames.  In the other match, Peter Ebdon has quickly built up a 4-0 lead over fellow Englishman Nigel Bond.  You can also follow the commentary on this match (Ebdon v Bond).

Dott in his normal black shirt and black waistcoat has the 888.com and London Royal Watches logo, while McCulloch in his blue backed waistcoat displays VoDKaT logo alongside the 888.com logo.  McCulloch opens the scoring although is distracted by a noise in the audience and his break ends on 8 points.  McCulloch leaves Dott with an awkward shot in trying to hit one loose red to the right of the pack, but misjudges the shot and goes in-off.  A period of safety exchange ensues with not many options available to the players to maximise on building sizable breaks. Dott breaks the safety exchange deadlock by knocking in a break of 30 before having the cue ball cleaned to continue his break, with eventually ends at46 after missing a long pink into the green pocket.  McCulloch immediately replies with a 14 break to help reduce the deficit. McCulloch plays a red dead weight into the middle pocket, knocks in a black and then lays Dott in a snooker, which Dott replies with an excellent safety and then in his next visit pots the last red.  Dott takes the green, brown, blue and pink to take frame five, leading the match 3-2.

McCulloch now in his fifteenth year as a professional, joined the main tour in 1992/93, the same year Dott won the Scottish National Amateur Championship.  However, Dott has notably won the games biggest crown in becoming the World Champion.  In this sixth frame, Dott continues to shake off the dreary image he earned after last years World Championship, and seems to be building on the attacking image that earned him the China Open title, earlier this year.  His confidence is growing, although still looks a little unsettled, however is playing the quicker game with an average shot time of 20 seconds compared to McCulloch's 30 second average.  McCulloch, known for his fast playing skills, is also still finding it difficult to settle down to his normal playing form.  Both will be looking to try and repeat history, when exactly 10 years ago today Ronnie O'Sullivan made his 5 minute 20 second 147 break, the fourth to be made in the World Championships.  Dott leaves McCulloch snookered on the yellow that is hanging over its own pocket and brings the frame within 3 points of Dott's 40 points.  With only the green and the remaining colours left and the scores very tight, it is becoming a battle of nerves, but Dott is the victor and clears the remaining colours to the pink and win the frame to take a 4-2 lead.  Dott leaves the arena to freshen up.

With the frames averaging 23 minutes, McCulloch opens the seventh, and following a safety shot by Dott, plays a nice long red into the yellow pocket, to make a break of 12.  McCulloch returns to the table, potting a red but getting a nasty kick.  Both players could well be expressing concerns about the quality of the white ball to the tournament director before the conclusion of this game.  McCulloch does how not let if affect him to much and continues to build the break, currently on 20 after potting the brown, but hitting the black on the way up the table, knocking it towards the side cushion.  Dott is at the table, with an opportunity to make a decent break, with has the potential to become a frame winning opportunity.  The break stands at 36 with four reds remaining , although he has slightly lost position.  McCulloch is forced to sit and watch as Dott reaches the 50 mark.  Red-pink-red is all what is needed for Dott to secure the frame, although misses the penultimate red and ends his break at 56.  A heavy contact and a shake of the head by McCulloch in not potting one of the last two reds gives Dott the opportunity although he fails to pot the black.  Down to the colours and McCulloch is 21 behind, potting the yellow and coming around the table off three cushions to get onto the green. A break of 20 puts McCulloch back into the match, but a kick on the pink gives Dott another opportunity, but he fails to capitalise and McCulloch eventually downs the pink and black to reduce the deficit to 4-3.     

With the average pot success for both players being 86%, frame eight gets underway and McCulloch immediately building on his confidence, opens the frame with a break winning opportunity, making his highest break of the match so far at 51.  After a couple of safety shots, a miss-cue by McCulloch leaves Dott with an opportunity to make a disappointingly short break of 19, after missing an easy pink.  McCulloch returns to the table and pots the last red and then a black to leave Dott requiring snookers and wins the frame with a 34 break clearing the colours to the pink.

With the scores level a 4-4, either player could take the final frame of this session to gain the narrow 5-4 lead before heading into the remaining 10 frames which are played to the match conclusion tonight.  McCulloch pots the first red of the frame with a tremendous pot into the middle pocket seems to be on a good break-building opportunity, only to be unfortunate when he gets to 35, being hampered in cueing for the next red, which wobbles over the pocket.  Dott is left the the red hanging over the pocket and opens his break with four reds and blacks, and after another red, yellow and red equals McCulloch's score of 35 before ending his break at 46 with three reds left on the table. Dott plays a red into the yellow pocket to get onto the red lying in baulk, before hitting the spotted pink on the green spot to snooker McCulloch behind the green. McCulloch fails to make contact and the miss is called, and the white replace.  On the second attempt, he makes contact and nudges the red a little closer to the middle cushion.  Dott pockets the last red to take his lead to 22 points, before snookering McCulloch, who plays a one cushion escape to hit the yellow.  McCulloch pots the yellow but misses the green, leaving it safe.  A couple of poor safety shots by Dott allows McCulloch to pot the green, brown, blue, pink and black to win the frame and go 5-4 ahead into tonight's conclusion of this match.

Join us at 1430(BST) for our live coverage.  The matches this afternoon feature Matthew Stevens against Joe Delaney or Anthony Hamilton against Marco Fu.  Coverage of this match between Graeme Dott and Ian McCulloch resumes to its conclusion tonight at 1900 (BST)    

We are back live at a packed Crucible to witness the conclusion of this opening match.  McCulloch who was trailing 4-2 took the the remaining three frames to gain the lead, heading in to tonight's match, where both players received a warm welcome back into the arena.  One thing is certain tonight, we will know the first player to progress into the next round.  McCulloch is quick off the mark and gets straight down to the business of potting balls, scoring an opening break of 27, before missing a brown.  Dott is hot on the heals, passing McCulloch with a 31 break.  In a fast-paced frame, Referee Eirian Williams is keen to avoid interfering with play and in a hurry quickly spots the pink on the blue spot, not noticing that the highest spot is available for the pink to go on with its own spot being occupied.  With the frame scores level as we get to the colours, McCulloch pots the yellow but refuses to take the green on, opting for a safety.   Dott plays safe, and McCulloch replies by potting the green and plays a safety exchange with Graeme.  Graeme proves the victor putting the brown down and getting a good position on the blue, although hits the shot with a touch too much action and the blue rolls down the table. The audience "ooohs" and "aarghs" as Ian narrowly misses the blue.  A couple of safety shots later, Ian sinks the blue and blue to win the opening frame of the session.

Frame 11 begins with Graeme on 11 points before a kick sends him back to his seat. Although Ian has started the session the stronger of the two players, we can be rest assured that Graeme will not give up easily as the defending champion. Ian is back on the table opening his account with a fluke, followed by a little luck in knocking the black towards the pack, allowing him to continue his break, showing a good mastery of the table, although in trying to open the pack, misses the green, has some luck in getting the cue ball behind the brown which is on its spot.  Graeme has McCulloch in problems, having missed the reds and getting the ball replaced, then playing in-off after hitting the reds and on the next visit to the table missing the pack again.  The cue ball is replaced and McCulloch makes a contact but splits the pack, giving Graeme an opening to get some more points, to get a 22 point lead, before the frame becomes a scrappy encounter.  Dott increases his lead to 53-17 with three reds left in what could become the longest frame of today's game. McCulloch gets back to the table and looks eager to wrap the frame up, getting the last two reds of the table, trailing by only 26 points with the colours remaining. Graeme clears the yellow and green to end the frame and reduce the deficit to one frame.  As Eirian Williams sets the table up for frame 12, Ian sits patiently for the return of Graeme into the arena.

Frame 12 commences, after 53 minutes of play in the first two frames.  Half of the reds are lying towards the left hand side of the table with a three 4 bunched behind the pink spot. The colours are in favourable positions, and Ian gets to the table with a good opportunity to make a high scoring break.  The break goes well, until Ian cannot hold position and has to hit a difficult red before laying a snooker and ending his break on 46. Graeme replies with some consistent play to get back into this frame. However, Ian takes the last two reds, even though his cue ball control is erratic at times, getting 25 points ahead with 27 points remaining. Graeme suffers a nightmare, hitting the yellow onto the black which goes into the corner pocket.  In his subsequent shot, Graeme goes in-off and concedes the frame.  McCulloch extends his lead to 7-5.

McCulloch spends a few moments wiping his hands on his towel before breaking off the frame 13.  Both players will be looking to get this frame over so they an go and reflect and revise their strategy to help them win the game.  Ian has to get up from his shot as a mobile telephone rings in the arena.  Eirian Williams, a former policeman, is quick in ordering the phone to be switched off.  Much to the embarrassment of its owner, the television camera's swing round to show the phone being turned off.  It doesn't rattle Ian as he goes on to knock in a couple of balls, to register the first points in the frame.  Graeme gets back to the table and responds with a back of 20, missing a long red into the yellow pocket to unexpectedly end his visit and spends a few minutes honing his concentration to the task in hind while Ian is at the table making a well-constructed break, which is presently at 44.  The break continues as Graeme sits helplessly watching his world title hopes slowly drifting away.  Ian eventually ends the break on 63, leaving Graeme requiring a snooker if he is to win the match. Ian pots the last red and Graeme concedes the frame, leaving the arena for the mid-session interval trailing 8-5. While we are at the interval why not see what has been developing on the match on the other table between Steve Davis and John Parrott?

We get underway in frame 14, with McCulloch missing his second red after potting a red and black. Dott replies with a break of 16, before both players become embroiled in a tactical exchange.  Only time will tell whether Dott will be parading the world championship trophy in front of his fellow supporters at Rangers Football stadium again this season.  Although at this stage of the championship he needs some inspiration to get past the first hurdle of Preston's Ian McCulloch.  Perhaps this will be the frame to give Graeme a lift as his 54 break puts him well into the lead, taking the frame with an 85 break.  He is now catching up.

Frame 15 begins, with McCulloch getting the first real chance.  The red wobbles over the pocket and leaves Graeme with an easy opener.  With renewed confidence and spirits lifted after improving his highest match break from to 61 to 85, Graeme starts his advance in this frame with a meagre break of 17.  McCulloch approaches the table, and starts building a break in reply, gaining confidence with every shot. The cue ball goes in and out of baulk and stops in a good position for Ian to continue his break which is already at 52. With only two reds remaining the score line stands at 69-17, putting the frame out of reach of Dott.

With only the colours remaining McCulloch has made a a break of 83. and goes on to win the frame making the first century break at 110 to cheers from the audience as his lead extends to three frames.

Eirian Williams called everyone to order, announcing the commencement of frame 16.  This is a must-win frame if Graeme Dott wants to progress to the next round.  Ian has proved the more dominant of the players, and will be looking to get through to the next round.  Ian, who is a former semi-finalist from the championship two years ago, coincidentally beat Graeme in their first round encounter in that campaign. Graeme is trying hard to revive his fortunes and is completely focused.  A good break of 43 puts 42 points between him a Ian.  Every time Graeme allows Ian to get to the table, the pressure increases.  Ian is very slowly creeping up and narrowing the points difference. The frame ends with Graeme making a break of 27 to win the frame 85-20.  

McCulloch opens frame 17, playing a good opening shot, leaving the cue ball tight on the bottom cushion to the left of the green spot.  Dott, looks to play a containing safety and attempts to get the cue ball back to baulk, although cannons a red on the way back up the table.  McCulloch is left with a chance but cannot do anything as he gets a terrible kick as the cue ball contacts the red. The safety play is ended as Ian knocks in the first red, and notches up a break of 11.  Both players have potting success averages in the mid 80's which is a reflection of how the match has progressed, with neither producing a first class performance. Graeme takes a sip of his energy drink while Ian selects his colour after potting a red. After potting the pink, it is replaced on the black spot.  After potting another red, the black is potted with the black being spotted on the green spot which is the only available spot. Ian spends a moment looking at which red to play from a possible three, then progress to sink the blue.  The reds are evenly spread and this could be a chance to get a could lead, as the winning post gets increasingly nearer. Ian misses a straightforward cut into the middle with the blue, ending the break at 22. Dott replies with a safety shot.  The frame progress with a safety exchange, with Graeme making an error and allowing Ian to pot the red which was left over the middle pocket, followed by the yellow to send the cue ball pack towards the pack.  Ian has his work cut-out, with all of the colours being in and around the baulk area, except the pink, which is tied up on the top cushion. At 52-0 to Ian, it looks like this could be a break which ends Graeme's chances of retaining the title.  With five reds remaining, McCulloch misses the frame winning ball, the crowd gasp, but Dott is hanging on and returns to the table. A break of 24 keeps Graeme in contention.  McCulloch, 36 points in front just needs either one of the two remaining reds to get to the snookers required stage. Graeme lays a good snooker, but Ian can see the edge of one of the reds. McCulloch just cannot find the the formula to get over the winning line and prolongs the agony a little longer for both players. After four attempts at potting a red, McCulloch finally pots one.  Graeme is left looking shell-shocked at the thought of making an early exit. A break of 11 ends the frame and give McCulloch victory in the opening match.  The defending champion is on his way home.    

FRAME SCORES

1. 43-71

2. 64-37

3. 71(61)-17

4. 1-63

5. 74(46)-41

6. 68-37

7. 61(56)-65

8. 32-85(51)

9. 57(46)-62(35)

WINNER

10. 46-58

11. 59-28

12. 31-67

13. 20-68

14. 101(85)-8

15. 17-110(110)

16. 85(43)-20

17. 24-71

18.

19.

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