Ruthless Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Ali Carter to land record eighth Masters title

The Rocket bounced back from 6-3 down to win 10-7 at Alexandra Palace

Ronnie O’Sullivan recovered from 6-3 down to beat Ali Carter 10-7 and claim a record-extending eighth Masters title at Alexandra Palace in London.

Carter looked on course for a first Triple Crown title as he opened up a 5-3 lead after the first session and immediately extended his advantage when play resumed.

O’Sullivan reeled off three frames in a row to get back on level terms before Carter made his ninth century of the tournament in the 13th frame, breaking the record set by O’Sullivan in 2007 and 2009.

Ronnie O’Sullivan poses with his children Ronnie Jr and Lily alongside the Paul Hunter trophy (Getty Images)

However, Carter scored just 51 points in the last four frames as O’Sullivan ruthlessly punished any mistake to win back-to-back Triple Crown events for the first time in his career following his victory in the UK Championship in December.

“I don’t know how I’ve won this tournament, to be honest with you,” O’Sullivan, who at 48 is the oldest ever Masters champion, told BBC Sport.

“I’ve just dug deep. I’ve tried to play with a bit of freedom and then tonight I just thought try to keep Ali honest and if he’s going to win it he’s going to have to scrape me off the table.

“I just wanted to see if he had it at the end.”

Carter joked: “He’s starting to annoy me,” before adding: “I’m gutted to have lost obviously, but proud of how I played all week.”