Graeme Dott

Graeme Dott

Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish former professional snooker player and former World Snooker Champion. His career ended in 2026 after he was convicted of child sex offences.

Dott turned professional in 1994 and competed on the World Snooker Tour for over 30 years. He won the 2006 World Snooker Championship, defeating Peter Ebdon in the final, and was runner-up at two other World Championships, losing the 2004 final to Ronnie O'Sullivan and the 2010 final to Neil Robertson. He contested ten ranking finals during his career, winning two ranking titles, and attained his career-highest position of second in the 2007–08 rankings.

In April 2025, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) suspended Dott from competition after he was charged with sexually abusing two children, a girl between 1993 and 1996 and a boy between 2006 and 2010. In August 2026, after a five-day trial at Scotland's High Court, he was convicted of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards both victims. The WPBSA revoked his membership, removing him permanently from the sport, and he was also removed from the World Snooker Hall of Fame. In September 2026, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and placed on the sex offender register indefinitely.

Early life and amateur years

Graeme Dott

Graeme Dott was born on 12 May 1977 in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest of four sons of John Dott and Susan Cartledge. Raised in the Easterhouse area of eastern Glasgow, he was educated at Commonhead Primary School and Lochend Secondary School. His father, grandfather, and uncle all worked for Yarrows Shipbuilders, and he described his background as "a traditional working-class Glasgow family."

Dott began playing snooker at age eight when he received a miniature snooker table for Christmas. A maternal uncle began taking him to snooker clubs so that he could practice on full-sized tables. When he was 13, his family moved to the Dennistoun area of Glasgow, and he made his first century break shortly afterwards at Dee Bee's Snooker Club. At Reardon's Snooker Centre on Stockwell Street, he met Alex Lambie, a businessman from Larkhall in Lanarkshire, whose son Alex Jr. played alongside him in junior tournaments. Lambie, who owned a snooker club and hotel in Larkhall, mentored Dott as an amateur and went on to manage his professional career. Dott later described him as a "second father".

In 1992, Dott won the British Under-19 Championship at the age of 15. The following year, he won the Scottish Amateur Championship. His parents split up when he was 16. He lived with his mother, while his father moved to a council house nearby.

Career

Early career: From turning professional to World Champion (1994–2007)

Dott turned professional in 1994, at age 17. He made his Crucible debut at the 1997 World Snooker Championship, losing 9–10 in the first round to James Wattana. He reached his first ranking final at the 1999 Scottish Open, losing 1–9 to Stephen Hendry, and made his first maximum break in professional competition at the 1999 British Open. He reached his second ranking final at the 2001 British Open, losing 6–9 to John Higgins, and first entered the top 16 in the 2001–02 rankings. His appearance at the 2002 China Open attracted media attention when a series of delayed and missed flights extended his journey to Shanghai to 43 hours, after which he overslept and had to run part of the way to the tournament venue. Docked two frames for his late arrival, he lost 3–5 to Darren Morgan. Afterwards, he commented that he had left his hotel in such a hurry that he was not wearing underpants until a friend brought him a pair at the mid-session interval. The Guardian newspaper satirically named Dott its "Alternative Sports Personality of the Year 2002" over this episode. At the 2002 World Championship, he reached the second round of the tournament for the first time but lost heavily to Higgins, who took the first ten frames and went on to win 13–2. Dott reached the second round again at the 2003 World Championship and built a 7–2 lead over Ken Doherty, but Doherty recovered to win 13–12.

Dott experienced a string of disappointing results the following season. After a 1–5 defeat to Dominic Dale at the 2004 Welsh Open, he deliberately broke his cue, a childhood gift from his parents, at a motorway service station on his way back to Scotland. Playing with a new cue, he began the 2004 World Championship as a 200–1 outsider, later commenting that he had packed only two shirts for the event, anticipating an early exit. After coming from behind to defeat Mark King 10–9 in the first round, he beat Higgins in the second round, David Gray in the quarter-finals, and Matthew Stevens in the semi-finals. In the final, he faced Ronnie O'Sullivan. Dott won the first five frames, which O'Sullivan attributed to "mind games" by Derek Hill, Dott's coach, who had formerly coached O'Sullivan. Hill visited O'Sullivan in his dressing room 15 minutes before the final began, which O'Sullivan said "got into my head" and affected his focus. However, O'Sullivan dominated the remainder of the match, winning 18 of the last 21 frames for an 18–8 victory. The following year, Dott lost a fourth successive ranking final after Hendry beat him 9–7 at the 2005 Malta Cup. He exited the 2005 World Championship in the first round, losing 9–10 to Ian McCulloch.

At the 2006 World Championship, Dott led Neil Robertson 10–6 and 12–8 in the quarter-finals and held off a comeback to win 13–12. He faced O'Sullivan in the semi-finals. The scores were tied at 8–8 after the second session, but Dott won all eight frames in the third session to lead 16–8 and went on to win 17–11. Facing Peter Ebdon in the final, he led 11–5 and 15–7. Ebdon won six consecutive frames to reduce Dott's lead to two at 15–13, but Dott secured an 18–14 victory, claiming his first ranking title and only world title. The final was noted for its lengthy duration, slow pace of play, and low scoring, with Dott producing a highest break in the match of just 68. The 27th frame was, at that time, the longest ever played at the Crucible, at 74 minutes. The first day's play ended at 12:45 a.m., and the second day's play finished at 12:53 a.m.

The following season, Dott reached the semi-finals of the 2006 UK Championship, his career-best performance at the tournament, but lost 7–9 to Hendry despite having led 7–5. At the 2007 China Open, he defeated O'Sullivan 6–2 in the semi-finals and Jamie Cope 9–5 in the final to win his second ranking title, which he dedicated to the memory of his late father-in-law and manager Alex Lambie, who had recently died of cancer. At the 2007 World Championship, he again lost to McCulloch in the first round, becoming the 14th first-time champion to experience the so-called "Crucible curse," referring to the fact that no first-time winner at the Crucible has ever successfully defended the title. He reached his career highest ranking of second in the 2007–08 rankings.

Mid-career: Struggles with form and third world final (2007–20)

In the 2007–08 season, Dott reached the semi-finals of the 2007 Shanghai Masters but did not win any further matches for the remainder of the season. He later explained that Lambie's death had led to depression that affected his form. After his first-round loss to Ebdon at the 2008 Malta Cup, his 11th consecutive professional defeat, he described his play as "hopeless". After losing in the first round of the 2008 Welsh Open, he announced that he was considering missing the 2008 World Championship. He did participate in the tournament but lost 7–10 to Joe Perry in the first round. In the 2008–09 rankings, he fell from second to 13th place. Dott's 2008–09 season began with a further setback as he was forced to withdraw from the 2008 Shanghai Masters and the 2008 Grand Prix after breaking his left arm playing football. At the 2009 World Championship, he reached the second round for the first time since winning the title in 2006, but lost 10–13 to Mark Selby. He fell further to 28th place in the 2009–10 rankings.

In the 2009–10 season, Dott reached the last 16 of just one ranking event prior to the 2010 World Championship. However, he performed strongly at the Crucible, defeating Mark Allen 13–12 in the quarter-finals and Selby 17–14 in the semi-finals to reach his third world final. He lost 13–18 to Robertson in another lengthy final that ended at 12:54 a.m., but his ranking points as runner-up enabled him to re-enter the top 16 in the 2010–11 rankings. The following season, he reached the semi-finals of the 2011 German Masters but lost 4–6 to Selby. At the 2011 World Championship, he lost in the quarter-finals to eventual runner-up Judd Trump. At the 2012 World Championship, he lost 1–10 in the first round to Perry and described his performance as the worst he had ever played as a professional. Perry, who made a highest break in the match of just 59, acknowledged that he had also played poorly but said he felt sorry for Dott.

Dott at the 2014 German Masters.

During the 2012–13 season, Dott reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 Wuxi Classic, where he was whitewashed 0–5 by Mark Davis, and the 2012 Shanghai Masters, where he lost 4–5 to Trump. At the 2013 Masters, he produced his career-best performance at the tournament, defeating Stephen Maguire 6–5 and Trump 6–1 to reach the semi-finals. Facing Selby, he led 4–1 before missing a pot on the black that would have given him a 5–1 lead, and Selby recovered to win 6–5. The 2013 World Championship was the last time Dott reached the Crucible as a top-16 seed. He defeated Ebdon 10–6 in a first-round match that lasted over seven hours; an extra session had to be added after the players failed to complete the match in the first two sessions. Afterwards, Dott criticised Ebdon's slow, deliberate style of play and called for a rule to limit the amount of time a player could spend over a shot. Facing Shaun Murphy in the second round, he recovered from 2–6 behind to tie the scores at 8–8, but Murphy won 13–11.

In the 2013–14 season, Dott reached the semi-finals of the 2013 International Championship but lost 7–9 to eventual winner Ding Junhui. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Open but lost 4–5 to Murphy, who fluked the final black in the deciding frame. At the 2014 China Open, he reached the quarter-finals but lost 3–5 to the world number one Robertson. Having fallen out of the top 16 after the 2014 German Masters, he competed in qualifying for the 2014 World Championship but lost 7–10 to Kyren Wilson in the last qualifying round. It was the first time since 1999 that he had failed to reach the Crucible, following 14 consecutive appearances.

At the 2014 UK Championship, Dott defeated Robertson in a deciding frame to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time since 2006. He commented afterwards that he had been taking a more carefree approach to the game. He took a 4–1 lead over Stuart Bingham in their quarter-final match but lost 5–6. Ranked 16th after the UK Championship, Dott dropped to 17th after the 2015 German Masters and never regained his top-16 standing thereafter. He qualified for the main stage of the 2015 World Championship and defeated Ricky Walden 10–8 in the first round, but he lost 5–13 in the second round to the eventual champion Bingham. The following season, Dott reached his first ranking semi-final in over two years at the 2016 German Masters but lost 2–6 to Martin Gould. He qualified for the 2016 World Championship but lost 4–10 to Mark Williams in the first round.

Dott did not reach the latter stages of a ranking event during the 2016–17 season. He qualified again for the 2017 World Championship and defeated Ali Carter 10–7 in the first round but lost 6–13 to Barry Hawkins in the second round. The following season, he reached ranking finals at the 2018 German Masters, losing 1–9 to Williams, and the 2018 Snooker Shoot Out, losing to Michael Georgiou. He qualified for the 2018 World Championship, where he again faced Carter in the first round. Dott took a 6–2 lead, but Carter won eight of the last ten frames for a 10–8 victory. Dott made his last Crucible appearance at the 2019 World Championship, after qualifying for a fifth consecutive year. Facing Bingham in the first round, he trailed 1–8 but recovered to tie the scores at 9–9. Bingham won the deciding frame after Dott missed the black off its spot. During the 2019–20 season, he reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 International Championship, the semi-finals of the 2020 German Masters, the final of the non-ranking 2019–20 Championship League, and the final of the 2020 World Grand Prix. The World Grand Prix final was the tenth and last ranking final of Dott's career. He lost 8–10 to Robertson, who made five centuries in the match.

Late career: Rankings decline, relegation, and removal from the sport (2020–26)

Dott at one of his last professional events, the 2025 German Masters.

Dott's career subsequently went into decline. He failed to qualify for the Crucible for five consecutive years, losing in the fourth and final qualifying round each year from 2020 to 2023 and in the third qualifying round in 2024. He made his second professional maximum break in the 2022 World Championship qualifiers, 23 years after his first at the 1999 British Open. He reached his last ranking semi-final at the 2022 European Masters and his last ranking quarter-final at the 2022 Turkish Masters. After ending the 2020–21 season ranked 18th, he fell down the world rankings, ending the 2021–22 season ranked 35th, the 2022–23 season ranked 41st, and the 2023–24 season ranked 54th.

Dott played his last professional match at the 2025 World Open in February 2025, losing 2–5 to Stan Moody in the last 64. On 9 April 2025, two days before he was scheduled to compete in the 2025 World Championship qualifiers, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) announced that it had suspended him from competition due to ongoing court proceedings. He remained suspended throughout the 2025–26 season, which he ended outside the top 64 in the world rankings, resulting in his relegation from the professional tour. On 24 August 2026, Dott was convicted of child sex abuse charges. On the same day, the board of the WPBSA voted unanimously to revoke his WPBSA membership with immediate effect, permanently removing him from the sport. The following day, he was also removed from the World Snooker Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Graeme Dott

In 1997, Dott began a relationship with Elaine Lambie, the 16-year-old daughter of his mentor and manager Alex Lambie. The couple married in 2003 and had their first child, a son, the following year. In early 2007, doctors discovered potentially cancerous cysts on Lambie's ovaries. Tests ruled out cancer, but she suffered a miscarriage. Following these events, Dott suffered from depression, which affected his motivation to practise and his performances in tournaments. His form improved again with the help of antidepressants. In 2008, he and Lambie had a second child, a daughter. In 2026, following his conviction for child sex offences, it was reported that Dott and Lambie had separated but that she remained supportive of him.

Dott is a lifelong fan of Rangers. He paraded the 2006 World Championship trophy at Ibrox Stadium on 7 May 2006.

Child abuse conviction

Graeme Dott

In 2025, Dott was charged with historical child sex offences relating to two victims. He was charged with abusing a girl between 1993 and 1996 in Glasgow, beginning when she was nine years old and he was 16. She had previously made a statement to police in 2001 but no charges were brought at that time. She made a further statement in 2025. Dott was also charged with abusing a boy between 2006 and 2010 in various locations in Lanarkshire, beginning when the boy was eight years old and Dott was 28. Dott pleaded not guilty to the charges and stood trial at Scotland's High Court in August 2026.

During the five-day trial, the jury heard details of multiple sexual offences committed by Dott. The female victim, aged in her 40s at the time of the trial, described how he had touched her inappropriately when she was a child, exposed his genitals to her, and sexually assaulted her. The male victim, aged in his 20s at the time of the trial, testified that Dott had molested him in locations including a shower and a car and had given him crisps, fizzy drinks, and money. Dott called his victims' claims "disgusting" and denied "ever acting inappropriately with anyone".

On 24 August 2026, the jury found Dott guilty of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards both victims. Detective Inspector Gary Smillie, of Police Scotland, described Dott as a "dangerous individual". On 29 September, the judge, Lord Harrower, sentenced him to seven years in prison, stating that both cases of abuse "had included penetrative sexual activity" and noting that, in the case of the female victim, Dott's behaviour would now be classified as rape. Dott was placed on the sex offender register indefinitely. He continues to maintain his innocence.

Career finals

Ranking finals: 10 (2 titles)

Legend
World Championship (1–2)
Other (1–6)

<table><thead><tr><th>Outcome</th><th>No.</th><th>Year</th><th>Championship</th><th>Opponent in the final</th><th>Score</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>1.</td><td>1999</td><td>Scottish Open</td><td>Stephen Hendry</td><td>1–9</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>2.</td><td>2001</td><td>British Open</td><td>John Higgins</td><td>6–9</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>3.</td><td>2004</td><td>World Snooker Championship</td><td>Ronnie O'Sullivan</td><td>8–18</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>4.</td><td>2005</td><td>Malta Cup</td><td>Stephen Hendry</td><td>7–9</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Winner</td><td>1.</td><td>2006</td><td>World Snooker Championship</td><td>Peter Ebdon</td><td>18–14</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Winner</td><td>2.</td><td>2007</td><td>China Open</td><td>Jamie Cope</td><td>9–5</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>5.</td><td>2010</td><td>World Snooker Championship (2)</td><td>Neil Robertson</td><td>13–18</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>6.</td><td>2018</td><td>German Masters</td><td>Mark Williams</td><td>1–9</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>7.</td><td>2018</td><td>Snooker Shoot Out</td><td>Michael Georgiou</td><td>0–1</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Runner-up</td><td>8.</td><td>2020</td><td>World Grand Prix</td><td>Neil Robertson</td><td>8–10</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Minor-ranking finals: 2

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	2011	Sheffield Open	Ben Woollaston	2–4
Runner-up	2.	2013	FFB Open	Mark Selby	3–4

Non-ranking finals: 5 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2008	World Series of Snooker Berlin	Shaun Murphy	6–1
Runner-up	1	2009	World Series of Snooker Prague	Jimmy White	3–5
Runner-up	2.	2011	Brazil Masters	Shaun Murphy	0–5
Runner-up	3.	2012	Snooker Shoot Out	Barry Hawkins	0–1
Runner-up	4.	2020	Championship League (March)	Scott Donaldson	0–3

Pro-am finals: 9 (4 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	1994	Pontins Spring Open	Wayne Brown	3–7
Winner	1.	1995	Pontins Autumn Open	Stephen Lee	5–1
Runner-up	2.	1996	Marseille International Open	Matthew Couch	4–5
Winner	2.	1997	Austrian Open	Matthew Couch	7–6
Runner-up	3.	2008	Belgian Open	Ricky Walden	0–4
Runner-up	4.	2016	PMK Invitational Pro-Am	Anthony McGill	2–4
Winner	3.	2017	PMK Invitational Pro-Am	Eden Sharav	4–3
Winner	4.	2018	PMK Invitational Pro-Am (2)	Joe Swail	4–0
Runner-up	5.	2019	PMK Invitational Pro-Am (2)	Michael Collumb	3–4

Team finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2017	CVB Snooker Challenge	Great Britain	China	26–9

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Winner	1.	1993	Scottish Amateur Championship	Neil Martin	8–4