Ali Carter has reacted to a bizarre incident during his 6-3 defeat of John Higgins in the Masters quarter-finals on Thursday.
The “Captain”, making his twelfth appearance in the prestigious invitational event, reached the semi-finals in London for the first time in his career with a hard-fought victory over the Scot.
However, there was a huge talking point late in the game when the tie was still delicately poised and likely to go either way.
Leading 4-3 and midway through a vital eighth frame, Carter attempted a straightforward safety on the yellow.
Referee Desislava Bozhilova called a foul and a miss only for the Englishman to immediately insist that he had connected with the object ball.
The decision was reversed and the players continued, but replays confirmed that Carter had indeed missed the yellow and the foul should have stood.
In commentary for the BBC, John Virgo was particularly incensed, saying: “I don’t care, if the referee says he didn’t hit it, then he didn’t it. (She) should be stronger.”
It is debatable whether or not the incident had a significant influence on the outcome of the frame.
As it was, Carter won it to move 5-3 in front before sealing his place in the last four with a break of 72 – his only contribution above 50.
Dramatic incident in frame eight of Ali Carter v John Higgins. Carter misses the yellow, the referee (correctly) calls a foul, Carter says he hit the yellow so the decision is changed. Here’s a replay of the incident in question. #snooker pic.twitter.com/hueWc9hJjT
— Nick Metcalfe (@Nick_Metcalfe) January 16, 2020
In his post-match press conference, Carter said: “If I haven’t hit that then I’m absolutely flabbergasted because I don’t know what’s happened there.”
“I was playing it full ball, the white’s going up the table, and it’s turned…anyone would tell you that I’d never try and gain an advantage doing that. That’s unbelievable.”
Carter, ranked 17th in the world rankings, only received an invite after Ronnie O’Sullivan’s decision to not enter this year’s edition.
The 40 year-old will meet Shaun Murphy in the next round after the 2015 champion beat Joe Perry by the same scoreline.
Stephen Maguire faces David Gilbert and Stuart Bingham entertains Kyren Wilson in the remaining two quarter-final fixtures on Friday.
Ali Carter can be as flabbergasted as he likes. The fact is he missed the yellow. He then insisted he had hit it. Should be defaulted.
Thanks for the comment. But use of bad language is not prohibited.
Do you really mean that bad language isn’t prohibited?
Or should you delete ‘not’?
It didn’t originally say “xxxx”. The original word was removed. I’ll just delete the comment.
Absolutely appalled by Carter and his blatant abuse of the referee. How can he stand in front of the media and say he saw the cueball touch the yellow? This is where we need a WST official viewing each match to be a second set of eyes for situations like this. He should be stricken from future invitational tournaments. He has a poor history of disrespect to fellow players and referees. I hope whoever he gets in the semi finals never allows him off his chair. Cant stand players who will have a tantrum during play because they made the mistake and won’t take the Foul. WST has to do something about his outbursts. He doesn’t put fans in the seats or bring TV viewers like Higgins or the rest of the Top 16 so be lucky you’re on the Tour.
I certainly won’t be rooting for him after that. Couldn’t believe it!!
Totally agree my friend
i play in a very small league, 24 teams 2 divisions, when i referee in piddly little games on the few occasions a player may have disagreed with a decision my answer was always the same, i`m the referee you are the player, play on, simples. Never mind in the quarter final of the Masters. An inexperrienced referee lacking in confidence, which this one obviously was, should not be refereeing in a major tounament. With T.V. replays the decision of the ref should have been upheld. The pivotal frame result could have made the world of difference to the outcome of the match. Carter is a cheat i.m.h.o. he could not have seen any contact as there was none. B.T.W. I am not a Higgins fan just a fan of honesty, integrity and fair play.
Made me so angry watching the rest of that match!
I know he’s had health problems over the years but he really is a spiteful, petty little oik. I rather hope he doesn’t progress further in this competition as its undeserved.
I agree 100%! And then John Higgins had to try and sort out his incorrect score! That wouldn’t have done his concentration any good. This needs to be sorted, unlike Ali, John is too much of a gentlemen to make a fuss.
I quite agree Gillian that John is too much of a gentleman to make a fuss.
A gentleman who was banned from the game for accepting bribes
Higgins ban was not for accepting bribes – he was found innocent of that. Cool story though
Use the video to put all the balls back in the correct position that they were in AFTER he had fouled, put the scores back to how they were and continue the match from that point onwards, Higgins could easily have won that frame and so he could have gone on to win and progress.
What an absolute farce, and if Carter had an ounce of decency he would forfeit the end result and get a little respect back
I actually wanted him to win before that incident but was livid afterwards and really don’t want him to win anything now. I couldn’t believe the ref just believed him and the decision to overturn the foul could have affected the outcome of the frame and consequently the match!!! How, for goodness sake, in this day and age?!?!
So why exactly do we have referees if the players can overturn their decisions?
Ali, you were wrong. You never touched that ball, and as a professional you know you didn’t.
So the Masters has a fancy restaurant for players and family that World Snooker has paid an absolute fortune for no doubt, but can’t equip the tables with the correct technology in order to play a game of snooker. Madness
Ali Carter is a disgrace to the snooker game not alone that if u have to cheat to win it shows how shit he is . Ass hole