Graeme Dott

Dott turned professional in 1994, at age 17. He reached his first ranking quarter-final at the 1996 Welsh Open, losing 4–5 to John Higgins, made his Crucible debut at the 1997 World Snooker Championship, losing 9–10 in the first round to James Wattana, and reached his first ranking final at the 1999 Scottish Open, losing 1–9 to Stephen Hendry. He 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 Higgins, and entered the top 16 for the first time in the 2001–02 rankings. He arrived at 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. Although Dott took a 5–0 lead, O'Sullivan won 18 of the last 21 frames for an 18–8 victory. The following year, Dott lost a fourth successive ranking final when Hendry defeated him 9–7 in the 2005 Malta Cup. He suffered a first-round defeat at the 2005 World Championship, losing 9–10 to Ian McCulloch.

At the 2006 World Championship, Dott defeated Neil Robertson 13–12 in the quarter-finals and advanced to face 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. Dott remains one of only four players who have won a session 8–0 against O'Sullivan at the World Championship; John Parrott and Higgins had previously done so in 1994 and 1998 respectively, and Zhao Xintong subsequently did so in 2025. Although O'Sullivan won the next three frames, Dott took frame 28 on the last to win 17–11. He advanced to face Peter Ebdon in the final. He led 11–5 and 15–7, but Ebdon won six consecutive frames to reduce his lead to two at 15–13. However, Dott went on to secure an 18–14 victory, claiming his first ranking title and first world title. Played over two days, 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. The first day's play ended at 12:45 a.m., and the second day's play finished at 12:53 a.m.

Competing as the reigning World Champion the following season, Dott reached the semi-finals of the 2006 UK Championship, his best ever performance at the tournament, but he 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. Dott dedicated the title to 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 17th consecutive first-time champion to experience the so-called "Crucible curse," under which no first-time winner at the Crucible has ever successfully defended the title. Dott reached his career highest ranking of second in the 2007–08 rankings.

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 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. Speaking after his first-round loss 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".

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 his wife's cancer scare. 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. 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. 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.

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, where he began the season ranked 13th. At the 2011 World Championship, he reached the quarter-finals before losing to eventual runner-up Judd Trump. It was the last time Dott advanced past the second round of the World Championship. He was runner-up to Barry Hawkins at the non-ranking 2012 Snooker Shoot-Out. At the 2012 World Championship, he lost 1–10 in the first round to Perry, his heaviest ever defeat at the Crucible. Afterwards, he called his performance the worst he had ever played as a professional. Perry, who made a highest break of just 59, acknowledged that he had also played poorly in the match but said he had felt sorry for Dott.

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 had his career best performance at the tournament, defeating Stephen Maguire 6–5 and Trump 6–1 to reach the semi-finals, where he faced Selby. He led 4–1 but missed 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 qualified automatically for the Crucible as a top-16 seed. He defeated Ebdon 10–6 in a first-round 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. 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. Facing Murphy in the second round, he recovered from 2–6 behind to tie the scores at 8–8, but Murphy went on to win the match 11–13.

In the 2013–14 season, he 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 Neil Robertson. Having fallen out of the top 16 after the 2014 German Masters, he competed in the qualifiers for the 2014 World Championship but lost 7–10 to Kyren Wilson in the last qualifying round. He failed to reach the Crucible for the first time since 1999, following 14 consecutive appearances. He ended the season ranked 17th.

At the 2014 UK Championship, he defeated Neil Robertson in a deciding frame to reach the quarter-finals of the event for the first time since 2006. He said afterwards that he was 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. Dott was ranked 16th after the tournament, but dropped to 17th after the 2015 German Masters and never again retained his top-16 standing. He successfully qualified for the 2015 World Championship and won his first-round match 10–8 against Ricky Walden. In the second round, he lost 5–13 to Bingham, who went on to win the title. 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. He qualified for the 2016 World Championship but lost 4–10 to Mark Williams in the first round.

Dott qualified again 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. He reached the eighth ranking final of his career at the 2018 German Masters but lost 1–9 to Williams. At the 2018 World Championship, he again successfully came through the qualifiers. For a second consecutive year, he faced Carter in the first round; he led 6–3 after the first session but went on to lose 8–10. He reached his ninth ranking final at the 2018 Snooker Shoot Out but lost to Michael Georgiou. 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. During the 2019–20 season, he reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 International Championship, the semi-finals of the 2020 German Masters, and the final of the non-ranking 2019–20 Championship League. He then reached the final of the 2020 World Grand Prix but lost 8–10 to Neil Robertson, who made five centuries in the match. It was Dott's eighth defeat in his ten ranking finals. He failed to qualify for the 2020 World Championship, ending the season ranked 21st.

Dott has not featured at the main stage of the World Championship since 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. He made his second professional maximum break in the 2022 World Championship qualifiers, 23 years after his first at the 1999 British Open. After the 2020 World Grand Prix, he reached the last eight of a ranking event only twice, having been a semi-finalist at the 2022 European Masters and a quarter-finalist at the 2022 Turkish Masters. His world ranking also declined. He began the 2021–22 season ranked 18th in the world but ended it ranked 35th. He ended the 2022–23 season ranked 41st and the 2023–24 season ranked 54th.

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 pending court proceedings. At the time of his suspension, he was ranked 56th. He ended the 2024–25 season ranked 61st.