2018 German Masters

[jonny66]

now on youtube if you just want to watch the ending, or was there something specific?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROj8fpK1dwQ

Thanks Dean. I just read something about Ryan Day fouling the pink 3 times, wasn't sure exactly what happened. How bad was that last shot though???

[JimMalone]

Graeme Dott is in his first Ranking Final since the 2010 World Championship after beating Shaun Murphy 6-4. Honestly I wouldn't have thought he would reach one again.

[DeanH]

what a great match, Dott finding some long-lost form on the main stage - well done

[j6uk]

they were as blaster would say ''hitting the numbers'


http://livescores.worldsnookerdata.c...n-masters-2018

[Neil Taperell]

I’ve got a soft spot for Graeme Dott , doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves in my opinion for what he has achieved in the game .

A lot of players should look at his determination and scrape me off the table attitude .

Fantastic result for him .

[fkhan]

Thanks Deanh and thommo335

[JimMalone]

I’ve got a soft spot for Graeme Dott , doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves in my opinion for what he has achieved in the game .

A lot of players should look at his determination and scrape me off the table attitude .

Fantastic result for him .

My opinion on him really changed over the years. Earlier on I thought he was only grit and determination, but not only he surely can play, but he also has losened up over the years and has become more likeable.

In regard of him as a player I think with his third World Final he proved that he wasn't a fluke as a World Champion. But I still think he has a bit overachieved. If you look at his record aside from his three Final Runs at the Crucible it is actually pretty hollow:
- only one other title (2007 China Open)
- aside from one season where he was the #2 in the world, he was never ranked better as #6
- never been to the final of the UK Championship or the Masters

Therefore I've to say that Dott is still one of the weakest World Champions. But compared to the ones who never won the most prestigious title it's surely a great career and he certainly made the most of his abilities.

[Odrl]

In regard of him as a player I think with his third World Final he proved that he wasn't a fluke as a World Champion. But I still think he has a bit overachieved. If you look at his record aside from his three Final Runs at the Crucible it is actually pretty hollow

I see it a little differently... When Dott was right at the top of his game, in the 2006-2007 period, he was playing some great stuff and looked like he would win a few more events. But then he had that battle with depression during what were supposed to be his best years, and he also had an extremely untimely wrist injury that forced him to miss several events, at a time when the calendar was virtually empty compared to today.

If he had kept the kind of form he had during his prime, I think he could have won a lot more... He was a class above the likes of Carter and Walden for example, and they ended up having a pretty decent career in terms of winning ranking titles.

Does anyone remember the infamous "Will Dott win another ranking event?" thread we had on here all those years ago? I wonder if it might be time to resurrect it... :smile:

[jonny66]

I’ve got a soft spot for Graeme Dott , doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves in my opinion for what he has achieved in the game .

A lot of players should look at his determination and scrape me off the table attitude .

Fantastic result for him .

I like Graeme and I'm chuffed to bits he's in the final.

To the others saying his WC victory is "hollow", you have to remember he came through when the "holy trinity" were at their peak, just before the "barren years".

"And you can quote me on that".

[Rane]

I’ve got a soft spot for Graeme Dott , doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves in my opinion for what he has achieved in the game .

A lot of players should look at his determination and scrape me off the table attitude .

Fantastic result for him .

I think his biggest problem in his prime years was that he beat O´Sullivan at a time where everyone expected him to be cruising to another world championship. Personally I think Dott played his best in the 2010 WC, but he ran out of energy in the final.

[Rane]

Graeme Dott - Mark Williams. At the start of the season I hadn´t expected to see any of those two in a ranking final again. And another semifinal lost for Judd Trump. He doesn´t get enough out of his talent.

[sealer]

Graeme Dott - Mark Williams. At the start of the season I hadn´t expected to see any of those two in a ranking final again. And another semifinal lost for Judd Trump. He doesn´t get enough out of his talent.

Judd unfortunately has problems with sighting and will never be one of the greats.

[JimMalone]

I see it a little differently... When Dott was right at the top of his game, in the 2006-2007 period, he was playing some great stuff and looked like he would win a few more events. But then he had that battle with depression during what were supposed to be his best years, and he also had an extremely untimely wrist injury that forced him to miss several events, at a time when the calendar was virtually empty compared to today.

If he had kept the kind of form he had during his prime, I think he could have won a lot more... He was a class above the likes of Carter and Walden for example, and they ended up having a pretty decent career in terms of winning ranking titles.

Does anyone remember the infamous "Will Dott win another ranking event?" thread we had on here all those years ago? I wonder if it might be time to resurrect it... :smile:

He definitely is a class above Carter and Walden. But Dott has - if we just look at the very best results of them at the crucible - the same resume as Peter Ebdon, Ken Doherty and Shaun Murphy at the World Championship. With each of them lifting the trophy once and being the runner-up twice. And if you compare those four Dott definitely is the weakest of the quartet for me. Of course that's a quite high scale cause all of them are great players. But this is what I was talking about - world champions.

It's always difficult to speculate with what could or would have been. If Stephen Hendry wouldn't had broke his cue, would he have been a contender for a longer time? If Juan Martin del Potro wouldn't be so injury prone would he have won already multiple Grand Slams?

Of course away from the numbers in sports there's also the individual impression somebody gets from watching the athletes. And there can be pretty big differences. To me personally Dott probably didn't look as strong as to you. And while I have great respect for his strong mentality and I was mainly talking about world champions I wouldn't put him above non world champion Ding Junhui for example.

More important though is that I'm happy to see Dott in a ranking final once again and also happy to see Mark Williams there again.

[Odrl]

He definitely is a class above Carter and Walden. But Dott has - if we just look at the very best results of them at the crucible - the same resume as Peter Ebdon, Ken Doherty and Shaun Murphy at the World Championship. With each of them lifting the trophy once and being the runner-up twice. And if you compare those four Dott definitely is the weakest of the quartet for me. Of course that's a quite high scale cause all of them are great players. But this is what I was talking about - world champions.

Yeah, I would agree with that point. His record at the Crucible is unusually good when you look at his career as a whole, but the opposite applies for the number of ranking titles he has won. Only two titles for a former World champion and world number two seems a little underwhelming. :smile:


Anyway, I was just thinking about some of the memorable matches between Williams and Dott in the past, and I couldn't really think of any special ones. When you take out stuff such as the Championship League, Pot Black, and some minor PTC events, they have only played each other eight times in proper snooker, and not a single one of those was at the business end of any reasonably big tournament! I find that to be an amazing statistic, especially when you consider that tournaments used to be played under the tiered format, so it was much more likely for top players to meet one another at major venues. Dott turned pro 24 years ago, which means these two meet roughly once every three years on average, and even then it's always in the early rounds of events. Until today of course... :smile:

[golferson123]

weakest world champ without a doubt is docherty top notch amateur game but pro, no!