Ali will be aiming to put one over The Rocket
Lucky loser Ali Carter would love nothing more than to put one over on nemesis Ronnie O’sullivan by winning the Masters.
English potter Carter only qualified for snooker’s mostillustrious invitational event after the Rocket’s shock withdrawal.
And the Captain has grasped his chance with both hands with a 6-3 win over 2015 champion Shaun Murphy to secure his spot in today’s Masters final.
Carter and O’sullivan memorably clashed at the 2018 World Championship, when O’sullivan barged Carter en route to crashing out.
“It would be pretty sweet to win because of Ronnie pulling out,” admitted Carter, who’s lost two World Championship finals to the Rocket.
“Ronnie wouldn’t nod at me if we were in the desert. I’ve lost twice in the world final in Sheffield to Ronnie – he’s the man who stopped me winning the world title.
“Maybe the writing is on the wall, people keep saying it’s fate.
“But I’ve got to make it happen, nothing’s given to you in life, especially not in Triple Crown events.
“It’s massive for me. But it’s surreal because it doesn’t feel like I’m in the final.
“It feels like a journey and the road to success is always under construction.”
World No. 17 Carter has reached the final the hard way by knocking out former Masters champions Mark Selby, John Higgins and Murphy to move one win away from the £250,000 top prize.
And the Tiptree man will now lock horns with either former potato picker Dave Gilbert or 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham today.
“I’ve beaten Selby, Higgins and Murphy – and they don’t come much tougher than those three,” reflected Carter, who twice overcame cancer and suffers from Crohn’s disease.
“Everything goes through your head, when I was ill I thought it knocked the stuffing out of me.
“When something like that happens to you it’s easy to find excuses.
“It’s going to be a great occasion for me, but I’m not getting ahead of myself.
“It’s another opportunity to win a Triple Crown final for me. Hopefully it’s my turn.”
Carter clinched his covered final berth with 55, 91, 70 and 97 breaks, while Murphy pocketed breaks of 105, 110 and 56 in vein.
And former world champion Murphy bemoaned his bad luck after squandering the chance to reach a third Ally Pally final.
“He fluked frame ball twice and there’s nothing I can do about that,” moaned Murphy.
“I think those two frames were the difference and it just wasn’t meant to be.
“I can do nothing when I snooker my opponent and he not only gets out of them but pots frame ball twice.
“Someone in the crowd shouted ‘finish him’ like in Karate Kid and he did – well done to him.
“I thought I played quite well but it’s the nature of this sport.”