Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ali Carter LIVE: Snooker Tour Championship score and updates from grudge match
O’Sullivan leads Carter 7-1 in the race to 10 frames following the afternoon session as the bitter rivals avoided any confrontation in Manchester
The bitter rivalry between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter resumed this afternoon as the two Essex snooker stars clashed in the Tour Championship quarter-finals in Manchester. O’Sullivan absolutely dominated his foe to build a 7-1 lead in the best-of-19 contest, which will play to a finish from 7pm BST this evening.
The pair have a long-term feud and dislike of each other that came to a head after the final of the Masters earlier this year. O’Sullivan came from 6-3 down to win an eighth Masters crown at Alexandra Palace but Carter was furious with his opponent, accusing him of “disgusting actions” and “snotting all over the floor”.
‘The Rocket’ rejected those claims and hit back with a foul-mouthed rant, insisting “everybody knows what he’s like” and claiming his rival has “issues”. O’Sullivan said: “He’s a f*****g nightmare. F*****g why has he got issues with me? I’m not having it. I don’t care, grow some balls. I don’t give a f***. The more he brings it on, the more I f*****g punish him every time. He needs to sort his f****** life out.”
The Tour Championship is the final tournament before the World Snooker Championship, which begins on 20 April at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where O’Sullivan will look to add to his UK Championship and Masters successes this season by clinching a modern-record eighth world title.
Follow all the action below, plus find the latest sports betting odds, offers and tips here:
FRAME! Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-0 Ali Carter
O’Sullivan cruises to another frame as he gets over the winning line in the frame with the minimum of fuss. He flukes a red on 79 to keep the break going and keep the hope of a first century alive but the split of the final four reds goes wrong and the ton remains elusive!
A break of 81 and Ronnie O’Sullivan wins frame to move 6-0 ahead. This is a demolition job on Ali Carter.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Ali Carter
Three reds and three blacks for O’Sullivan before he’s forced to cannon into the pack and go up to play for the blue. Nicely played and the balls are split very nicely here. He’s only on 30 but this is already a glorious frame-winning chance for ‘The Rocket’.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Ali Carter
Gasps and oohs from the Manchester crowd as O’Sullivan floats a long red into the right corner. He’s straight back into a strong scoring position in frame six.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Ali Carter
Carter left the arena after that fifth frame to try and gather his thoughts. He needs some turnaround from here.
FRAME! Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Ali Carter
O’Sullivan wins the safety battle and pulls out a nice mid-range pot on the red before tidying up the remaining reds. He’s slightly out of position on the black but finds a nice pot to the left corner and lands perfectly on the yellow at the other end of the table.
A lovely clearance of 51 and Ronnie O’Sullivan wins frame five. A steal off Ali Carter and compounds his misery to make it 5-0.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Ali Carter
Carter clears the easy reds with blacks to move into a 48-26 lead. Four reds remaining and this is where the work really starts.
He goes up for the red in the baulk area and then makes an error coming back down the table, landing behind the pink and covering the potting angle on the next red.
Forced to play safe and Carter leaves the table with a 52-26 lead and three reds remaining.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Ali Carter
The reds pretty well spread with pink and black both available, so this a decent table for O’Sullivan to score on. But he misses a pink to left middle with the score at 26-8!
Carter simply has to make the most of this surprising opportunity.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Ali Carter
O’Sullivan leading 10-4 in this frame as the safety continues. Carter leaves a pot on to the right corner but O’Sullivan follows the red in with the cueball! That’s another surprising mistake from Ronnie.
Carter doesn’t punish him though - misses the pot by quite a way to leave O’Sullivan in among the balls.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Ali Carter
That was rather un-Ronnie like. He cues across the white ball and misses a fairly straight red into the right corner. Carter pots the red, then yellow but pink and black are tied up, with the blue also not on its spot, so it’s not exactly a great scoring chance.
Forced to play safe after a break of four and makes a mess of that as well, double-kissing the blue to leave the cueball in mid-table.Luckily no pot is left for O’Sullivan.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Ali Carter
Carter accidentally sends the white into a corner pocket off the red during a safety exchange but no real harm done as O’Sullivan isn’t left with a pot.
Eventually, Carter has a go at a long pot down the left cushion but it rattles both jaws and stays out. Close! The wait for a first scoring opportunity in this frame goes on.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies