Perry pipped by Carter in the World Open final in China

Fenland potter Joe Perry came close to picking up a second world ranking title in China at the weekend.

The 41 year-old from Chatteris reached the final of the World Open in Yushan, but was beaten 10-8 by fellow Englishman Ali Carter.

Perry produced some sparkling snooker in the earlier rounds, particularly in the semi-finals where he made three consecutive century breaks(132, 102and120) to defeat good friend and training partner Neil Robertson 6-2.

But, as he admitted aftewards, he wasn’t at his best in the final, the fourth of his career.

He did stage a late fightback, coming from 8-3and9-5 down, but Carter was a worthy winner of the £90,000 first prize. Perry received £40,000.

Perry said: “I struggled all day, I didn’t feel comfortable. I was battling against my cue action. I only started to play when the match was over and I made a game of it. But it’s the worst I have played for a long time and I’m really disappointed in myself.

“I’ve had a good tournament and produced some good performances, but I saved the worst until last.

“Ali played better than me and made less mistakes. I had more than enough chances.”

Perry, whose only world ranking tournament win came last year in the Players Championship, had toppled former world champion Shaun Murphy 5-2 in the quar- ter-final, Ben Wollaston 5-4in the last 16 and Tom Ford 5-2in the last 32.

It was an emotional win for Carter (37), his first since returning to the World Snooker Tour after recovering from cancer for the second time. It also moved him into the top 16 of the world rankings.

Carter said: “It has been a great week for me. I havebeen through a lot over the last couple of years so to get back into the top 16 is a huge achievement.”

Joe Perry.