THE CRUCIBLE climax sees Neil Robertson take on Graeme Dott in the world snooker final in a marathon best-of-35 frames contest over the Bank Holiday.
Robertson became the first Australian to reach the final since the late Eddie Charlton in 1975, beating Allister Carter 17-12 in convincing fashion.
And unseeded 2006 champion Dott joined him though only after a much sterner from Mark Selby in the other semi which ended 17-14.
Ninth seed Robertson led his semi final from the start, taking the first five frames with breaks of 124, 91 and 76 in frames two, four and five.
Carter had been given few chances by Robertson in the opening stages and he was still struggling to judge the pace of the table when he finally got off the mark in frame six.
The final two frames of the first session were shared to leave Robertson firmly in control, 6-2 ahead, though Carter's 52 break in frame eight was his highest contribution of the match to that point.
Robertson struck again at the start of the second session. A magnificent 140 break and a tight win in frame 10 gave him an 8-2 lead before the first twist in the tale.
For the first time in the match, the Australian lost a little form and Carter upped his potting game with breaks of 76 and 81 to win four frames in a row.
But that was to be as good as it would get for fifth seed Carter.
Robertson composed himself sufficiently to take the last two frames of the session with breaks of 59 and 104 to retain a four-frame lead.
A scrappy, low-scoring first frame of the third session was won by Carter but Robertson still looked the more accomplished, scoring his third century of the match in a four-frame winning streak.
That made the score 14-7 and left Robertson with the chance of winning the match with a session to spare by winning the last three frames.
In the event, he won just one of the last three but he was not complaining of an overnight score of 15-9.
Carter came out fighting at the start of the final session, taking the opening two frames with breaks of 64 and 71.
But Robertson crushed any notion of a comeback by winning two of the next three frames and sealing his place in the final.
Dott was forced to work much harder against Masters champions Mark Selby for his third appearance in the showpiece event though, just like Robertson, the Scot shaded the early exchanges.
Breaks of 79, 71 and 93 helped Dott into a 5-2 lead before Selby made his first real impression with a 142 break in the last frame of the session.
The opening four frames of session two were shared before Dott exerted control by winning three frames out of the next four to lead 10-6.
The first of those three frames was the result of a brilliant 146 break, a real testament to the hard work which he has put in to improve the scoring part of his game.
It puts Dott in line to share the highest break money with Mark Allen who also hit 146 in his quarter final match against Mark Davies.
Selby had to react to keep his chances of a second Crucible final appearance alive and the Leicester man started the third session well.
By taking four of the first five frames, he reduced his arrears to 11-10 but Dott held firm and edged himself closer to the line by taking the last three in the session for a 14-10 lead.
Still playing catch up, Selby started the final session in similar style to his early success in session three, winning the first three frames to trail just 14-13.
The next two frames were shared and the match looked set to be a late night thriller but, despite a diminishing lead, Dott did not panic.
Instead, he won the tactical battle in the final two frames to complete a brilliant recent turnaround in his professional career.
After winning a turgid final in 2006 against Peter Ebdon, the Scot's ranking fell as low as 48 in the following years as he struggled with depression.
But this run to the Crucible final caps an excellent 2009-10 season which has put Dott back in the top 16 for next year, whatever the result of the final.
That should allow him to play with some freedom while no one could fault Robertson for being a little nervous until he wins his first frame.
On the other hand, Dott may suffer from his relatively late finish and any perceived advantage from his 2006 win might have been negated by the troubles which followed.
Whichever way it is looked at, this final should be a close one with both men fully deserving of their place.
Robertson is the in-form player of the season and Dott is on his mighty comeback trail. Now, 18 frame wins stand between them and glory.
RESULTS/CENTURIES
Semi finals (best of 33 frames)
Neil Robertson (9) bt Allister Carter (5) 17-12
Graeme Dott bt Mark Selby (7) 17-14
Quarter finals (best of 25 frames)
Neil Robertson (9) bt Steve Davis 13-5
Allister Carter (5) bt Shaun Murphy (13) 13-12
Graeme Dott bt Mark Allen (11) 13-12
Mark Selby (7) bt Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 13-11
First Round and Second Round results
See earlier blog post.
2010 World Championship century breaks
Total: 58, Most centuries: Graeme Dott/Neil Robertson (7 each)
146 - Mark Allen, Graeme Dott
142 - Mark Selby
140 - Neil Robertson
137 - Ding Junhui
131 - Mark Allen
130 - Graeme Dott
128 - Steve Davis, Shaun Murphy
127 - Liang Wenbo, Stephen Lee, Graeme Dott
124 - Neil Robertson
122 - Mark Allen, Allister Carter
121 - John Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams
120 - Ding Junhui, Stephen Maguire
117 - Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan
116 - Martin Gould, Graeme Dott, Neil Robertson
115 - John Higgins, Graeme Dott
114 - Stephen Maguire
112 - John Higgins, Michael Holt, Marco Fu, Neil Robertson
111 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
110 - Graeme Dott
108 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby
107 - Tom Ford, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson
106 - John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan
105 - Graeme Dott
104 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, Allister Carter, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson
103 - Mark Selby, Martin Gould, Liang Wenbo, Ding Junhui
102 - Martin Gould, Steve Davis
101 - Mark Allen
100 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, Allister Carter, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen
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