Ronnie O’Sullivan bounces back from 3-6 down to beat Ali Carter at the Masters
Ronnie O’Sullivan claims his 23rd Triple Crown title after coming from behind to defeat Ali Carter at Alexandra Palace, becoming an eight-time Masters winner.
The world number one levelled the score on three occasions before storming away in the evening session to secure a 10-7 finish.
Winning an eighth World Championship title later this season will award O’Sullivan the Triple Crown, something just three players have achieved in a single season.
The match saw some fearless long-potting from both players, but Carter, despite being three frames ahead in the evening session, felt like he was up against more than just an all-time great.
Carter said: “There’s some morons in the crowd shouting when you’re on your shot and saying stupid things. If brains were dynamite, they would have enough to blow their head off.”
While not playing at his best, O’Sullivan blocked out the noise and found a way out of a tournament that he was thankful to be over with.
O’Sullivan said: “I was there for the taking and have been all week, but no one could take me.
“I don’t think I played well, probably about 50-60 percent of what I’m capable of.
“It doesn’t feel great to win this tournament feeding off people’s errors when I get most of my enjoyment from blasting people out of there.”
Returning from the Macau Masters – an invitational event where he beat Ding Junhui 6-2 on Christmas day – the Rocket made it two for two against the Chinaman, progressing to the quarterfinals at Ally Pally despite a maximum break from Ding.
He then laboured through matches against Barry Hawkins and Shaun Murphy before facing Carter in the final.
But with O’Sullivan finding himself 3-5 down following a highly-competitive afternoon session, former Masters winner Stuart Bingham said: “[O’Sullivan] looked as if he could walk out at any moment.
“I expected him to come out and go through the gears with it being a Triple Crown event, but he looked like he just didn’t want to be here.”
Even with the 48-year-old underperforming, this was a monumental task for Carter, who had been kept on his chair when O’Sullivan dominated World Championship finals in 2008 and 2012.
Reaching his second Masters final since falling short to Bingham in 2020, Carter, now a top-10 player, showed tremendous heart to defeat Mark Williams and Judd Trump before facing Mark Allen, where an arduous 42-minute ninth frame saw the Captain sail through to his match with O’Sullivan.
Yet his battles off the table are perhaps more testament to the former world number two’s character, overcoming lung cancer after being diagnosed in 2013 and suffering from Crohn’s disease for over 10 years.
Now playing at his very best again, Carter was up for the challenge against his fellow Essex-born cueist, as tensions were heightened with the pair engaged in a long-standing bitter rivalry.
In their last encounter at the Crucible, the seven-time world champion snarled: “stop being angry,” after bumping shoulders with Carter.
Hoping for another fiery spectacle, a packed out crowd at Ally Pally awaited the afternoon session, which saw attacking prowess from both players.
O’Sullivan commanded the table in the first frame, but allowed Carter to go 1-2 up after struggling to find his rhythm.
A break of 125, however, levelled the score, with O’Sullivan enjoying greater control over the cue ball before the interval.
Carter then returned the favour, bouncing back with a century to prove that his hard work leading up to the final would not go to waste.
Another frame for Carter put him two in front, with O’Sullivan leaving the green ball by the pocket for his opponent to capitalise and, despite scoring his second ton of the match, the Rocket remained behind at the end of the session.
After conceding the first frame of the evening session, O’Sullivan dug himself out of the deficit, scoring a century break to top a three-frame return.
But Carter responded by claiming his ninth century of the week – the most scored by a player at a Masters tournament – with a match-highest break of 127, before O’Sullivan mustered his third ton to level the score again.
A hard-fought 15th frame saw O’Sullivan edge in front, and then extend his lead to 9-7, ahead of a break of 86 to finally put the match to bed.
