Graeme Dott fully deserves his place in the World Championship final

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Solid finalists look set for a long-distance battle

SOMETIMES it’s possible to pick holes in the Crucible finalists but there is little doubt that Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott, this year’s Betfred.com World Championship big-match combatants, fully deserve their place in the most important clash of the year.

With last year’s title holder John Higgins having underperformed in his loss to Steve Davis, Robertson was the just beneficiary, not Ding Junhui, who has yet to show he has the bottle to win the big one, nor Shaun Murphy, who was not at his best after a below-par campaign in the ranking tournaments.

Nor even Ali Carter, who looks a certainty to make his second world final before long. The Captain has got the lot and he’s definitely good enough to become world champion one day.

Carter, runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2008, went close again in the last 15 days despite never hitting his peak. At his best he could have beaten Robertson in their semi-final clash, which the Australian won 17-12. But as it was, the winner, who showed solid temperament when it was needed most, merited the victory.

Like Carter, Robertson has been some way below his best in Sheffield this year – he has been overhitting the ball a lot in most of his matches – but his level of performance has still been good enough to see him come though four matches.

By rights, Martin Gould should have knocked him out in the last 16 but the Pinner potter showed his big-match inexperience when it mattered most and crumbled with the finishing line in sight.

But it would be wrong to underrate Robertson's title chance after good wins over Fergal O'Brien, Higgins' conqueror Steve Davis and Carter.

The Thunder from Down Under, a 12-1 chance before the tournament started, posted plenty of decent breaks against Carter and considering he has gone close against Dott more than once in the past, he lookssure to put up another good fight on Monday and Tuesday.

However, it's unlikely that Dott was playing as well in previous meetings with Robertson as he is now.

Of the finalists, if there is a slight fatigue concern it would probably be over Dott, who has come through long, mentally-draining matches against Mark Allen and Mark Selby.

But Dott, who possesses one of the best big-match temperaments ever seen in a snooker player, has few problems when it comes to fitness and metabolism and the Pocket Dynamo is likely to put previous travails to the back of his mind pronto.

His potting has been top-notch, but the secret of Dott's wonderful title tilt, for which he was 125-1 ante-post after a couple of seasons in the snooker wilderness, has been his improved positional play, which has enabled him for the first time to be looked on as a heavy scorer.

Dott was hurt by comments suggesting his 2006 final triumph over Peter Ebdon was one of the dourest in Crucible history.

But while much of what transpired in that year's climax required considerable patience in the spectator, make no mistake that the Larkhall cueman thoroughly merited that title after a series of matchplay lessons, including in the last four against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Like Robertson, Dott is also capable of keeping it close in this year’s denouement, but while the Scot can be considered at 6-5 with Ladbrokes, the best bet looks to be to back over the frames, which means hoping the loser wins at least 14 of a possible 35.

Recommendations

Over 31.5 frames

2.5pts 10-11 P Power, V Chandler

G Dott

1pt 6-5 Ladbrokes

Final betting – match winner: 4-5 Robertson (Boyles, Coral) v 6-5 Dott (Ladbrokes); handicaps: Evs Robertson -1.5 frames (Betfred, Boyles, Hills) v 5-6 Dott +1.5 frames (general) (2.5 handicaps also available); highest breakmaker: 5-6 Robertson (Bet365, Ladbrokes) v 6-5 Dott (Boyles); total frames over/under: 10-11 under 31.5 (Blue Sq, 888sport), 10-11 over 31.5 (P Power, V Chandler).

Sporting Index supremacy: 1-4 Robertson/Dott (10pts win, 3 per frame won by).

Read Monday's Racing Post for full reaction to the latest allegations that have rocked snooker