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Graeme Dott opened up a 5-3 lead over Australia’s Neil Robertson in the first session of the world snooker championship final, but the Crucible showdown was overshadowed by the bribe allegations surrounding world number one John Higgins.
Higgins, last year’s world champion, was suspended on Sunday following newspaper allegations that he and manager Pat Mooney, who also acts as Dott’s business advisor, struck a deal to rig frames in return for a financial reward.
Although Higgins has protested his innocence, the snooker world was rocked by the claims and Dott’s clash with Robertson seemed less important than usual in the circumstances.
Dott, 32, managed to maintain his composure well enough though and the 2006 champion had a break of 80 in the opening frame.
He also took two of the next three before Robertson levelled at 3-3 but Dott edged the last two frames to regain control of the best of 35-frames match ahead of Sunday’s second session.
Robertson, playing in his first world championship final, was not performing as well as he had the tournament, with just one break over 50, even though his mother Alison had made it to Sheffield in time for the biggest match of the 28-year-old’s life.
She had set off from Melbourne when Robertson led 15-9 against Ali Carter in his semi-final, taking the gamble that he would convert the six-frame advantage into victory.
Robertson met his mother before the match and she said: “It was a leap of faith. We had to wait until we got here to find out that Neil had got to the final.
“My partner and I had made a promise that if Neil ever made it to the final then we’d come over to watch him.”
Robertson also went into the match knowing that his Oslo-based girlfriend Mille was due to give birth on Sunday.
But he was determined to stay focused on his bid to become the first player from outside the British Isles since Canada’s Cliff Thorburn in 1980 to win the world title.
“Hopefully she can just hang on for a few days yet,” Robertson said.
“She’s told me just to play and not worry about it too much. Being a first time, usually they’re a little bit late.
“Every single part of my life right now is so exciting. We were talking about the due date, how wouldn’t it be funny if I got to the final.
“Now it’s happened, it’s really strange. I haven’t been thinking about it at all during my matches but it’s obviously a fantastic time for me.”
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