O'Sullivan edges ahead

By Clive Jones and Dan Warren
BBC Sport at The Crucible

Frame by frame

Ronnie O'Sullivan moved into a slender 9-7 lead after a fascinating first day's play in the World Championship final in Sheffield.

Dott stunned O'Sullivan as he won the first five frames before O'Sullivan hit his 13th century to pull one back.

O'Sullivan then clawed his way back to 6-6 but Dott edged ahead again thanks to a break of 86.

Dott missed a crucial red in the 14th frame to allow O'Sullivan to pinch it, then The Rocket claimed the last two.

It gave O'Sullivan's many fans a chance to rest a little easier after the Scot began in a fashion which suggested he was going to pull off one of the biggest shocks in Crucible history.

A 6/1 outsider for the match before the start, his odds were down to 6/4 after he built his 5-0 lead.

A fully-deserved lead it was too, with Dott mercilessly punishing any mistakes in a manner reminiscent of the way O'Sullivan punished Stephen Hendry in the semi-final.

But it was always going to be tricky to maintain such a high standard.

Although O'Sullivan was not dominant afterwards, his safety play was sound and he edged the crucial 11th and 14th frames, which could both easily have gone the way of Dott.

The Rocket is once again hot favourite for the title, and Dott will have to work hard on Monday to ensure his opponent does not build on his lead.

---

Final latest:

R O'Sullivan (Eng) 9-7 G Dott (Sco)
34-71 (71) 9-77 (77) 0-108 (64) 0-97 0-61 (60) 100-0 (100) 63-17 87-0 (63), 87-0 (56), 0-59, 64-47, 78-0 (78), 0-87 (86), 68-48 (56), 68-1, 69-0

Play resumes Monday 1500 BST