Ronnie O’Sullivan demolished Ali Carter 10-2 to win what had been termed a grudge match and reach the semi-finals of the Tour Championship.
The pair had not met since their ill-tempered meeting at the Masters final in January, which O’Sullivan won 10-7.
Carter accused O’Sullivan of “snotting all over the floor” and The Rocket responded by saying his opponent was “not a nice person” during an expletive-laden rant.
O'SULLIVAN EASES THROUGH! 😏
The Rocket comfortably beats Carter 10-2 to secure a place in the #TourChampionship semi-finals!@JohnstonesTrade— WST (@WeAreWST) April 3, 2024
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O’Sullivan refused to speak about Carter in his pre-game interview, letting his snooker do the talking in a one-sided contest in Manchester that was over within an hour of the mid-match break.
Carter never settled after missing an easy red in the opening frame which O’Sullivan punished by making a 77 break.
A scrappy 28-minute frame followed and O’Sullivan went to the interval 4-0 ahead after compiling breaks of 87 and 54.
Carter’s best in the first session was a meagre 13 and his senses seemed scrambled when he attempted to swerve around the yellow and struck one of two reds left on the table.
O'Sullivan dominating in the last 8️⃣ 🔥#tourchampionship | @ronnieo147 pic.twitter.com/KsIKxil0Hn
Advertisement— WST (@WeAreWST) April 3, 2024
O’Sullivan capitalised with a frame-winning 51 and extended his advantage to 7-0 with breaks of 81 and 92 – those efforts taking a total 14 minutes.
Carter headed into the final frame of the afternoon session with the grim prospect of being whitewashed.
But he responded in superb fashion with a 141 clearance to eclipse Tom Ford’s 138 as the highest break of the tournament, placing him in prime position for a £10,000 bonus.
Carter closed out O’Sullivan again at the start of the evening session, with breaks of 36 and 70 reducing the deficit to 7-2.
It was a false dawn, however, as Carter ran out of position and missed a red for O’Sullivan to make a 62 clearance.
O’Sullivan then cashed in with a decisive 52 break after another Carter error had opened up the table.
Carter was put of his misery in the 12th frame as O’Sullivan compiled 67 before going in-off in the middle pocket, a rare mistake in a snooker masterclass.
Zhang Anda and Gary Wilson will resume their quarter-final on Thursday level at 4-4, with the winner meeting O’Sullivan in the last four.
Wilson won two frames on the black to lead 3-1 before Zhang fought back strongly in an even contest.
