Demoralised Dott admits being ‘utter rubbish’
GRAEME DOTT branded hims el f “utt er r ubbish” as he missed out on a place in his f i r st ranking f i nal f or t wo years.
The Glaswegian crashed to a 6-4 defeat to Chinese whizkid Fan Zhengyi in their European Masters semi-final showdown yesterday at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
“I was absolutely rubbish. I was just total and utter rubbish,” Dott said. “It’s just demoralising when you play as bad as that. I just made so many unforced errors it was unreal.
“I’ve got no complaints, but it’s so hard when you know you can play so much better than you’re producing.
“I thought he played really well, but how the score was 6-4 I don’t really know. He could have won by more.
“I was just really poor for some reason. My potting was bad, my cue ball control was terrible and my safety was rubbish.
“There wasn’t anything I did right, I just don’t know how I’ve won four frames.”
The former world champion has battled hard all week in his quest for a first ranking title since 2007, but the 44-year-old came unstuck against rising star Fan, 21, who deservedly booked a place in his first ranking final, where he will face Ronnie O’Sullivan who overcame Liang Wenbo 6-2.
Breaks of 131 and 58 saw him power 4-1 ahead before Dott hit back with breaks of 66 and 62. But despite a further 54 to notch another frame on the board, it was Fan who triumphed with runs of 77 and 84.
“I’ve not really had my game at any point this week if I’m being honest, I’ve really struggled,” Dott added. “I was hoping I was going to get better for the semi-finals, but I actually got worse.
“I kept trying, but I made way too many mistakes. The only way I would beat anybody playing that bad is if they struggled as well. I had no chance of winning.
“I really, really fancied the comeback when I got back to 4-3, I thought he was really starting to feel the pressure.
“I had really good chance to go 5-5, but I butchered it. There’s only so many chances you get. I just didn’t play very well at all.”