Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the semi-finals of the 2024 Tour Championship thanks to a dominant 10-2 victory over Ali Carter on Wednesday.
The Englishmen have become embroiled in some fiery battles and have exchanged heated words with one another in the past.
Yet this contest failed to live up to the hype, with O’Sullivan taking advantage of a poor performance from Carter to comfortably advance in the competition.
The Rocket compiled breaks of 92, 87, 81, 77, 54, and 51 in orchestrating a commanding 7-0 cushion, and he was frequently able to mop up from his opponent’s numerous mistakes.
Carter finally stopped the rot in the last frame of the first session, constructing a terrific 141 total clearance that represents the highest break of the week so far.
The Captain, who finished runner-up to O’Sullivan at the Masters in January, subsequently opened the second session with a run of 70.
But any hopes of an unlikely comeback were dashed when O’Sullivan reeled off the following three frames with breaks of 67, 62, and 54.
Prior to the match, the 2019 Tour Championship winner said that he’s going to stop making comments about other players – having recently gotten into different wars of words with Carter and others on the main tour.
“I don’t comment on players now. I’ve learned my lesson and there’s no value in it for me,” Ronnie O’Sullivan told ITV.
“Every time I say something it’s kind of a bit of a headline. Ronnie says this and that, and if they get interviewed and they say something about me then it becomes a headline of them talking about me.”
“I just thought, ‘what am I actually gaining out of this?’ I’m not actually gaining anything other than people getting the chance to say what they feel like they want to say.
“I am like, ‘you know what, I’m happy with my life, I’m happy with my job and I’m happy with what I do.’
“I just want to delete all that other stuff, so I think that it is best that I don’t comment on any player and just make it a policy.
“A boundary that I just don’t overstep just for my own piece of mind and my own sanity.
“I just let the other guys do what they want to do and I wish them all the best, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s not something I want to get involved in ever again.”
The 48 year-old remains on course to add to his impressive haul of five trophies from a prolific 2023/24 snooker season.
In addition to the Masters, O’Sullivan has already collected silverware at the UK Championship, the World Grand Prix, the Shanghai Masters, and the Riyadh Season World Masters.
It marks the fourth time in six editions that O’Sullivan has reached the Tour Championship semi-finals.
The world number one will next meet the winner of the tie between Zhang Anda and Gary Wilson, which is currently all-square at 4-4.
Ding Junhui and Mark Allen reached their halfway point as well, with the Chinese cueist establishing an overnight 5-3 advantage.
Those two matches will conclude on Thursday, and the fourth quarter-final fixture will also take place between top seed Judd Trump and Welsh legend Mark Williams.
2024 Tour Championship Draw
Round of 12
Mark Williams (8) 10-9 Tom Ford (9)
Mark Allen (5) 10-7 John Higgins (12)
Gary Wilson (6) 10-8 Mark Selby (11)
Barry Hawkins (7) 8-10 Ali Carter (10)
Quarter-Finals
Judd Trump (1) 4-10 Mark Williams (8)
Ding Junhui (4) 8-10 Mark Allen (5)
Zhang Anda (3) 8-10 Gary Wilson (6)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) 10-2 Ali Carter (10)
Semi-Finals
Mark Williams (8) 10-5 Mark Allen (5)
Gary Wilson (6) 7-10 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
Final (bo19).
Mark Williams (8) 10-5 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
Featured photo credit: WST
