Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Glasgow. After winning the British Under-19 Championship in 1992 and the Scottish Amateur Championship in 1993, he turned professional in 1994. He first entered the top 16 in 2001 and reached his first world final at the 2004 World Championship, losing 8–18 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Two years later, he defeated Peter Ebdon 18–14 in the final of the 2006 World Championship, winning his first world title and first ranking title. He reached the semi-finals of the 2006 UK Championship and claimed his second ranking title at the 2007 China Open, defeating Jamie Cope 9–5 in the final. He reached his career highest ranking of second in the 2007–08 rankings.
In 2025, Dott was charged with sexually abusing two children, a girl between 1993 and 1996, beginning when she was around 10 years old, and a boy between 2006 and 2010, beginning when he was around 7 years old. Released on bail, he has pleaded not guilty to the charges and will stand trial at Scotland's High Court of Justiciary in August 2026. The WPBSA suspended him from competition in April 2025 and he remains suspended pending the outcome of his trial.
Early Life
Graeme Dott was born on 12 May 1977,[2] the youngest son of John Dott and Susan Cartledge. He has three older brothers. He grew up in the Easterhouse housing estate in Glasgow and was educated locally at Commonhead Primary School and Lochend Secondary School. His father, uncle, and grandfather all worked for Yarrows Shipbuilders, and he has described his background as "a traditional working-class Glasgow family."[3]
Dott began playing snooker at age eight after he received a miniature snooker table for Christmas. His maternal uncle, George Cartledge, began taking him to snooker clubs, where he practiced on full-sized tables. When he was 13, his family moved to the Dennistoun area of Glasgow. Shortly afterwards, he made his first century break at Dee Bee's Snooker Club in Dennistoun and began playing in junior tournaments at Reardon's Snooker Centre on Stockwell Street. His parents split up when he was 16, after which he lived with his mother; his father moved to a council house nearby.[3]
Career
Early career: From amateur to World Champion (1992–2007)
Dott's first major amateur title was the British Under-19 Championship in 1992, when he was 15. After winning the Scottish Amateur Championship in 1993, he turned professional in 1994, at age 17.[4] He made his Crucible debut at the 1997 World Snooker Championship, losing 9–10 in the first round to James Wattana,[5] and reached his first ranking final at the 1999 Scottish Open, losing 1–9 to Stephen Hendry.[6] He made his first maximum break in professional competition at the 1999 British Open.[7] He reached his second ranking final at the 2001 British Open, losing 6–9 to John Higgins,[8] and entered the top 16 for the first time in the 2001/2002 rankings.[2] Dott began the 2004 World Championship having won only two previous matches at the Crucible, but he reached his first world final, where he faced Ronnie O'Sullivan. Dott took a 5–0 lead but O'Sullivan won 18 of the last 21 frames to secure an 18–8 victory.[9] The following year, Dott lost a fourth successive ranking final when Hendry defeated him 9–7 in the 2005 Malta Cup.[10] At the 2005 World Championship, he lost 9–10 in the first round to Ian McCulloch.[11]
At the 2006 World Championship, Dott defeated Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals, winning the match in a deciding frame , and faced O'Sullivan again 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.[12] Although O'Sullivan won the next three frames, Dott took frame 28 on the last black to win 17–11.[13] He faced Peter Ebdon in the final and led 11–5 and 15–7. Ebdon then won six consecutive frames to reduce Dott's lead to two at 15–13, but Dott went on to secure an 18–14 victory, claiming his first ranking title and first world title.[14] The final was noted for its long duration, slow pace of play, and lack of high scoring, with Dott making 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.[15] The final did not end until 12:52 a.m.[16]
Competing as the reigning World Champion the following season, Dott reached the semi-finals of the 2006 UK Championship but lost 7–9 to Hendry, despite having led 7–5.[17] He defeated Jamie Cope 9–5 in the final of the 2007 China Open to win his second ranking title.[18] At the 2007 World Championship, he again lost to McCullochin in the first round, becoming the 17th consecutive first-time champion to experience the so-called "Crucible curse," under which no first-time winner has ever successfully defended the title since the tournament moved to the Crucible in 1977.[19]
Mid-career: Struggles with form and third World Championship final (2007–14)
Dott reached a career highest ranking of second in the 2007–08 rankings, although his ranking subsequently declined after a string of poor results. After reaching the semi-finals of the 2007 Shanghai Masters, he did not win any further matches for the remainder of the season. He lost in the first round of the 2007 UK Championship to qualifier Dave Harold and lost in the first round of the 2008 Masters to eventual runner-up Stephen Lee.[20] Speaking after losing to Ebdon at the 2008 Malta Cup, his 11th consecutive professional defeat, he described his form as "hopeless" and said he was "nowhere near to playing a good enough standard".[21]
Following a first-round defeat at the 2008 Welsh Open, he announced that he was considering missing the 2008 World Championship. His manager explained he had been suffering from depression following the death of his father-in-law and a cancer scare for his wife.[22] He did participate in the tournament but lost 7–10 to Joe Perry in the first round.[23] In the 2008–09 rankings, he fell from second to 13th. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, he broke his left arm playing soccer and had to withdraw from the 2008 Shanghai Masters and the 2008 Grand Prix.[24] 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.[25] He fell further to 28th place in the 2009–10 rankings.
During the 2009–10 season, he 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. Although he lost 13–18 to Neil Robertson, he regained his top 16 standing in the 2010–11 rankings.[26] At the 2011 World Championship, he reached the quarter-finals before losing to eventual runner-up Judd Trump.[27] Dott has not subsequently reached a World Championship quarter-final. He was runner-up to Barry Hawkins at the non-ranking 2012 Snooker Shoot-Out.[28] At the 2012 World Championship, he lost 1–10 in the first round to Perry, stating after the match that it was the worst he had ever played as a professional.[29][30]
During the 2012–13 season, he 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.[31] At the 2013 Masters, he reached the semi-finals, his best ever performance at the tournament, but he lost 5–6 to Selby after leading 4–1.[32] In the first round of the 2013 World Championship, he defeated Ebdon 10–6 in a match that lasted over 7 hours; an extra session had to be added after the players failed to complete the match in the first two sessions.[33] Afterwards, he criticised Ebdon's slow, deliberative style of play and called for a rule to limit the amount of time a player could spend over a shot.[16] Facing Murphy in the second round, he recovered from 2–6 behind to tie the scores at 8–8 but went on to lose the match 11–13.[34]
In the 2013–14 season, he reached the semi-finals of the 2013 International Championship but lost 7–9 to eventual winner Ding Junhui.[35] 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.[36] At the 2014 China Open, he reached the quarter-finals but lost 3–5 to the world number one Neil Robertson.[37] Having fallen out of the top 16 after the 2014 German Masters,[38] he failed to qualify for the main stage of the 2014 World Championship, losing 7–10 to Kyren Wilson in the last qualifying round. It was the first time he had not reached the Crucible since 1999, following 14 consecutive appearances.[39] He ended the season ranked 17th, and has never since regained his top-16 ranking.[40]
Later career and suspension (2014–present)
At the 2014 UK Championship, Dott defeated Neil Robertson in a deciding frame to reach the quarter-finals of the event for the first time since 2006.[41] He said afterwards that he was taking a more carefree approach to the game.[42] He took a 4–1 lead over Stuart Bingham in the quarter-final match but lost 5–6.[43] He qualified for the 2015 World Championship but lost 5–13 in the second round to eventual winner Bingham.[44] The following season, he reached his first ranking semi-final in over two years at the 2016 German Masters but lost 2–6 to Martin Gould.[45] He qualified for the 2016 World Championship but lost 4–10 to Mark Williams in the opening round.[46]
He qualified for the 2017 World Championship and defeated Ali Carter 10–7 in the first round, to date his most recent victory at the Crucible. He lost 6–13 to Hawkins in the second round.[47][48] He reached the eighth ranking final of his career at the 2018 German Masters but lost 1–9 to Williams.[49] At the 2018 World Championship, he again came through the qualifiers and for a second consecutive year faced Carter in the first round. He led 6–3 after the first session but went on to lose 8–10.[50] He reached his ninth ranking final at the 2018 Snooker Shoot Out but lost to Michael Georgiou.[51] At the 2019 World Championship, he qualified for the Crucible for a fifth consecutive year. Facing Bingham in the first round, he trailed 1–8 but recovered to tie the scores at 9–9. However, Bingham won the deciding frame after Dott missed the black off its spot.[52]
Dott has not featured at the main stage of the World Championship since his defeat to Bingham at the 2019 event, having lost in the final qualifying round four consecutive times from 2020 to 2023 and in the third qualifying round in 2024.[53] He reached the final of the 2020 World Grand Prix, where he lost 8–10 to Neil Robertson, who made five centuries in the match.[54] It was Dott's eighth defeat in the ten ranking finals he has contested. His other significant achievements after the 2018–19 season were reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 European Masters and the quarter-finals of the 2022 Turkish Masters.[55][56] He made his second professional maximum break in the 2022 World Championship qualifiers, 23 years after his first at the 1999 British Open.[57] However, his world ranking continued to decline. He fell out of the top 32 during the 2021–22 season, ending it ranked 35th.[58] He ended the 2022–23 season ranked 41st,[59] and the 2023–24 season ranked 54th.[60]
As a teenager, Dott developed a strong relationship with Alex Lambie, a businessman from Larkhall in Lanarkshire, whose son played alongside Dott in junior competitions. Lambie, who owned a snooker club as well Berries Hotel in Larkhall, mentored Dott as an amateur and went on to manage his professional career. Dott has described Lambie as a "second father."[64] In 1997, Dott began a relationship with Lambie's daughter Elaine, who was then 16.[65] They married in 2003 and have two children, a son born in 2004 and a daughter born in 2008.[65] Elaine works as a nurse.[66] With his £200,000 winnings from the 2006 World Championship, Dott paid off the mortgage on their family home in Larkhall.[64]
Diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer in January 2006, Alex Lambie died in December of that year. His wife May had previously died of cancer in 2002.[67] In early 2007, Elaine, who was pregnant, had a cancer scare when doctors discovered potentially cancerous cysts on her ovaries. Although she turned out not to have cancer, she suffered a miscarriage.[68] After these experiences, Dott entered a severe depression, which affected his practice and performances in tournaments.[65] After a string of poor results, he fell out of the top 16 in the rankings.[64][65] His form improved again with the help of anti-depressant medication.[64]
Child abuse allegations
In 2025, Dott was charged with child sex offences relating to two alleged victims.[4][69] Prosecutors claim that he sexually abused a girl between 1993 and 1996 in Glasgow, beginning when she was around 10 years old, and a boy between 2006 and 2010 in various locations in Lanarkshire, beginning when he was around 7 years old.[62][70] He is alleged to have instructed the girl to remove her clothing, exposed his genitals to her, and sexually assaulted her.[71] He is alleged to have molested the boy, made sexual remarks to him, and watched him shower.[72] He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyer claimed during an August 2025 hearing that: "the allegations are fabricated and there is no truth in any of them."[73] He will stand trial at Scotland's High Court of Justiciary, beginning on 17 August 2026.[72]
lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF
lost in the quarter-finals
SF
lost in the semi-finals
F
lost in the final
W
won the tournament
DNQ
did not qualify for the tournament
A
did not participate in the tournament
WD
withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held
means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event
means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event
means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event
means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event
means an event is/was a pro-am event.
↑It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
↑New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
↑The event was called the International Open (1994/1995–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
↑The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
↑The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
↑The event was called the Grand Prix (1994/1995–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
↑The event was called the Dubai Classic (1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
↑The event was called the Thailand Open (1994/1995–1996/1997)
12The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
↑The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
↑The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
12The event was called the European Open (1994/1995–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
↑The event was called the European League (1994/1995–1996/1997)
↑The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
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