Peter Ebdon and Graeme Dott prepare to contest the best-of-35-frame final of the World Championship in Sheffield

Both players struggle for fluency but Dott manages to make more of his chances as play goes on into the night on Sunday

Ebdon prepares to resume on Monday after two scrappy sessions on Sunday leave Dott with a 11-5 lead

Dott remains a spectator as Ebdon claws a frame back with a break of 78 but the Scot goes on to stretch his lead to 13-7

The game develops into an intriguing battle of wits as Dott grinds on into a 15-7 lead before the next interval

Dott starts the last session sensing victory but Ebdon records the final's first century break to stay in the running at 8-15

Ebdon continues to find his rhythm and fights back to 11-15 to turn up the heat on Dott at the mid-session interval

An epic 27th frame, the longest in Crucible history at 74 minutes, is won by Ebdon who takes the next to trail by two

The audience are in for a long evening and even Sports Minister Richard Caborn is finding the going tough

Dott hits back with a break of 66 to take his first frame of the evening session, but Ebdon responds to make it 16-14

Ebdon looks set to win the next, but runs out of position and Dott clears up to move within one frame of victory

And Dott keeps his nerve in the 32nd frame, after Ebdon misses a red, to knock in a match-winning break

The diminutive Scot can barely believe it after clinching the World Championship, his maiden tournament victory, 18-14

The final turns out to be the longest in Crucible history, surpassing Dennis Taylor's victory over Steve Davis in 1985