16.1.09

CAN CARTER BEAT RONNIE AT LAST?

Ali Carter has played Ronnie O'Sullivan ten times and never beaten him.

Therefore, although he is playing his best ever snooker, Carter still has his work cut out at the Wembley Masters this evening.

The longer a run like this goes on, the harder it gets to put it to an end.

You might think it has to be ended at some point but not necessarily. Terry Griffiths played Stephen Hendry 17 times and lost all 17. In an ironic twist, Griffiths later became Hendry's coach.

Carter will believe he can win. The fact that O'Sullivan is using a new cue must be a plus for The Captain.

But out in the arena he must try to keep memories of his near misses against O'Sullivan at bay.

And that is easier said than done.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

He should have beaten O'Sullivan in the Northern Ireland semi earlier this season in what was a hugely entertaining match. In the end Carter blobbed by increasing the intrinsic difficulty of the last red by playing it in such a way that he would cover it if he missed it. As it happened he missed it and left it on. Had he rolled it into the pocket, black ball position was guaranteed and the match was his.

Anonymous said...

'Can Carter beat Ronnie at last?'

Yes, he can.

Tonight's match will be a case of Ronnie having to beat Carter.

Anonymous said...

Less than 2 hours to go.... This has to be a mouth-watering affair. I think this year's Masters has been phenomenal when it comes to quality and with mr. Carter potting 97% I hope O'Sullivan will be motivated to put on a good show. With so many things being worthy of change in the snooker biz I think we should celebrate what we get in terms of superb quality snooker.

Anonymous said...

Atmosphere plays with Carter. Plenty of players and other people critise Ronnie for his opinion and some of them said snooker would be better without him. So why to play his best today?