Ronnie O’Sullivan fought back from 3-6 down to defeat Ali Carter 10-7 to win the Masters Championship for a record eighth time and is expected to complete three snooker titles in one season. crown king.
He won the British Championship in December and now the Masters, and if he wins the World Championship in May, he will join a club of players who have won all three titles in one season: Steve Davis Davis, 1988), Stephen Hendry (1995 and 1996), and Mark Williams (2003).
The 48-year-old O’Sullivan became the oldest Masters champion and the youngest Masters champion, a record he also maintained at the British Championships.
Carter led 5-3 after the first period and immediately extended his advantage when play resumed at Alexandra Palace, looking set to claim a first Triple Crown title.
O’Sullivan played three consecutive games to equalize the score, and then Carter scored his ninth hundred in the 13th game, breaking the records set by O’Sullivan in 2007 and 2009.
However, Carter only managed 51 points in the final four frames and O’Sullivan ruthlessly punished any mistakes as he won back-to-back Triple Crown events for the first time in his career following his victory at the British Championships in December.
“Honestly, I don’t know how I won the game,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport.
“I just dug deep. I tried to play a little bit free and then tonight I just tried to keep Ali as honest as possible and if he was going to win, he was going to have to scrape me off the table. I just wanted to see Whether he can do it in the end.
“Ali didn’t play well tonight, he played better this afternoon, but he got me out of trouble a couple times tonight. He was aggressive today, but tonight he didn’t take on some of the balls that I thought he might have had , gave me a little breathing room.”
Asked about his chances of winning an eighth world title at the Crucible, O’Sullivan said: “I always have a good idea during February and March to see if my game is in shape. Good enough to win a world championship. At the moment I would probably say not good enough to feel confident about winning. I can still win, but I want to feel confident in my game.
“The longer sessions you have to learn to cruise and win most races in second gear, but at the moment I feel like I have to do my best to get results.”
“Obviously, I’m very frustrated with my loss, it’s all about winning at the end of the day, but I was already in the finals before I got here last week, so for me,” Carter said. There are a lot of good things ahead of me.” I’m going in the right direction. Ronnie ended up playing really well there. I tried my best but my performance today was not good enough. “
Carter may be Player of the Week as he approaches ultimate glory. He had tough draws against Mark Williams, Judd Trump and Mark Allen.
He is enjoying a renaissance after falling out of the world’s top 16 four years ago and suffering several serious health issues during his career. His victory at the German Masters last February propelled him back into the top 16 and he has been in impressive form since then. His world ranking has risen to tenth, and his provisional end-of-season ranking is even higher.
