RONNIE TO ESCAPE FOR ‘STREET FIGHT’ WITH RIVAL CARTER
WARRING Ali Carter and Ronnie O’Sullivan should escape sanctions for their ‘snooker street fight’, according to Barry Hearn. Carter’s Betfred World Championship 13-9 second-round win in Sheffield on Saturday exploded in the 19th frame when the Rocket barged his opponent returning to his chair. Five-time champion O’Sullivan claimed it was in retaliation for an earlier incident. There was a bitter exchange of words at the Crucible. But Hearn, the chairman of World Snooker, said that the actions of referee Paul Collier may have spared the pair disciplinary action. ‘I don’t want actual fisticuffs out there — but I want to know that it means something and that there is an edge,’ Hearn said. ‘Sometimes gentlemen’s games are too gentlemanly, and while this wasn’t too serious, it summed up the intensity of the match.’ Meanwhile, O’Sullivan, 42, insists he will back at the Crucible next year. ‘I am probably going to be here until I am 50, so get used to me,’ he said.’ Four-time champion John Higgins raced to the quarter-finals yesterday, crushing Jack Lisowski 13-1. Higgins made his best Sheffield break of 146, one shy of a maximum. ‘It has been a very good day with the big win, the 146 break and watching Celtic clinch the title,’ said football fan Higgins. Tournament favourite Ding Junhui leads Anthony McGill 12-4 and is one frame from setting up a quarter-final against Barry Hawkins.