No chance of another world title for Dott as Scot himself says...

Graeme Dott believes he has no chance of becoming wor l d champion this year.

The Betfred. com World Championship kicks off in Sheffield next Saturday at the iconic Crucible but the former champ still has to win two tough qualifying matches just to make sure of his place at the venue.

The Scot was nearly taken the distance in a gruelling 10- 8 victory over amateur Brandon Sargeant in the first round of qualifying earlier this week.

But the 2006 world champ’s qualifying job is not even half done as he looks to cement his participation at snooker’s own Theatre of Dreams.

Next up is a challenging second qualifier, the best of 19 frames, with Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham today.

Dott said: “Playing 18 frames in my first match will be fine for the qualifiers but it means you’ve got much less chance of winning the tournament.

“Nobody qualifying can win it in my opinion.

“I know Ding Junhui is maybe the highest-ranked player in qualifying and people might think if anyone is going to come through the qualifiers and win it then it would be Ding.

“But I don’t think it’s possible to come through the qualifiers and win the World Championship. It’s just not.”

Larkhall’s Pocket Dynamo famously beat Peter Ebdon 18-14 to become world champion.

And this year marks the 10th anniversary of his finest hour in snooker, so the 38-year- old is understandably keen to compete at the Crucible.

Dott, also a Crucible runnerup in 2004 and 2010, added: “It means everything to qualify.

“You want your season to finish at the Crucible, you don’t want it to finish at Ponds Forge in a back room where nobody’s watching.

“You want to get there and be part of the tournament and if you happen to lose at the Crucible, well you’ve lost. But you can deal with it better than