Graeme Dott, the current world champion from Glasgow, yesterday began his challenge for the Malta Cup in Portomaso, the fourth of the season's seven world ranking events with a 5-3 win over England's Stuart Bingham after trailing 3-2.

Dott, ranked No3 in the world, played his match in the Masters earlier this month after hearing the previous evening that his pregnant wife had developed a cyst which might be cancerous. Tests disclosed that it was not and the 29-year-old Dott said yesterday: "The joy I had in winning the world championship was nothing compared with the joy when I heard she was OK. It really does put the game and what it means in perspective."