Graeme Dott of Scotland was crowned the 2007 World Snooker China Open champion after defeating Jamie Cope 9-5 in a tight final in Beijing on Sunday.

The win allowed the Scot to ascend to the top of the world rankings for the first time.

In the first-ever competitive match-up between the two, Dott dominated the final as Cope seemed to still be recovering from hi grueling semi-final against Barry Hawkins the night before.

Dott took six of the eight frames in the first session to storm into a 6-2 lead in the best-of-17-frame final. With breaks of 72, 60, 70 and 95, Dott's four-frame advantage left him needing only three more to take the title.

The first frame was Dott's at 71-46 but Cope fought back with a break of 65 to level the match.

The next two went each way with Cope leveling at 2-2 with a good 97. However, Cope's resistance flailed and Dott went on to win the next two on the trot.

The second session saw Cope come back to the table energized, closing the game to 6-5 after breaks of 91, 77 and 46.

Jamie Cope

However, Dott dug deep and showed his superb endgame, utterly outplaying Cope in the final three frames, winning them comprehensively with 124, 120 and 64 breaks.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2007)