The bitter rivalry between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter resumed this afternoon as the two Essex snooker stars clashed in the Tour Championship quarter-finals in Manchester. O’Sullivan absolutely dominated his foe to build a 7-1 lead in the best-of-19 contest, which will play to a finish from 7pm BST this evening.
The pair have a long-term feud and dislike of each other that came to a head after the final of the Masters earlier this year. O’Sullivan came from 6-3 down to win an eighth Masters crown at Alexandra Palace but Carter was furious with his opponent, accusing him of “disgusting actions” and “snotting all over the floor”.
‘The Rocket’ rejected those claims and hit back with a foul-mouthed rant, insisting “everybody knows what he’s like” and claiming his rival has “issues”. O’Sullivan said: “He’s a f*****g nightmare. F*****g why has he got issues with me? I’m not having it. I don’t care, grow some balls. I don’t give a f***. The more he brings it on, the more I f*****g punish him every time. He needs to sort his f****** life out.”
The Tour Championship is the final tournament before the World Snooker Championship, which begins on 20 April at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where O’Sullivan will look to add to his UK Championship and Masters successes this season by clinching a modern-record eighth world title.
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