Ali Carter joked that he’d prefer to avoid Ronnie O’Sullivan this year after sealing his place in the 2026 World Snooker Championship draw.
The Captain emerged from the English Institute of Sport as one of the 16 qualifiers with victories over Julien Leclercq and Anthony McGill.
Carter will be making his 22nd Crucible appearance, and he has encountered O’Sullivan in six out of his previous 21 visits to the iconic venue.
That includes meetings in both the 2008 and 2012 finals where O’Sullivan secured his third and fourth world titles respectively.
The duo clashed again last year in the first round with the Rocket emerging as a comfortable 10-4 winner.
Carter’s only victory over O’Sullivan in Sheffield transpired in their memorable 2018 showdown, which generated headlines amid their infamous shoulder-barge incident.
Despite having buried the hatchet and with their relationship on friendlier terms these days, Carter still hopes he can avoid his old nemesis in the draw.
“Listen, I don’t really want to play Ronnie to be honest with you,” Carter quipped. “I know I’m probably going to get him again.”
“I’ve played him too many times in Sheffield. There is no animosity there now between Ronnie and I. We’ve both grown up a bit now.
“I’d like to get home and chill out for a few days. I don’t really mind who I play, but hopefully on Monday or Tuesday next week would be ideal.”
Carter’s first appearance at the Crucible Theatre was back in 2003, and he has only missed out on the last-32 stage on two occasions since then.
The soon-to-be 47 year-old can always be considered a dark horse in Sheffield considering his good record there, with a semi-final place and three other runs to the quarter-finals on his CV.
Even though he is approaching the end of his career, Carter is still competing strongly and reached the Shanghai Masters final and the German Masters semi-finals this season.
“Probably not,” Carter told the World Snooker Tour when asked if he would have believed back in 2003 that he’d still be qualifying for World Championships 23 years later.
“Especially because it has been a bit of a roller coaster along the way. I’m probably lucky to even be here talking to you, let alone playing snooker.”
“But it’s a great achievement to still be mixing it up at my age. I’m not quite the Class of ’92, but I’m the Class of ’97 perhaps. I’ve played well [this year so far].
“I was a bit disappointed, because I let myself down in the semi-finals of the German Masters. I enjoyed myself a bit too much the night before.
“I just didn’t turn up against Judd. That’s Shaun Murphy’s fault by the way – the old fashioneds kept appearing until about two in the morning.
“You know, that is so uncharacteristic for me. But I’ve been going through quite a bit off the table the last year or so, which has come to a conclusion now.
“I can focus on the snooker. It’s not just me but other players too who are going through it off the table, and it affects our sport.
“I’m an amateur pilot, but if I was a professional pilot, with how we have to go to work, the CAA wouldn’t allow you to fly.
“We haven’t got that privilege [in snooker], because we haven’t got sick pay and we haven’t got holiday pay. We don’t get any pay half the time.
“It’s tough and we all have lives to lead. We all have children and families, and what not. Balancing it is a juggling act, because it’s a particularly busy tour now.”
Carter, the other 15 qualifiers, and the top 16 seeds will each learn their first-round fates when the draw for the 2026 World Snooker Championship is conducted.
The draw will be aired on BBC Radio 5 Live at around 8:45 BST.
Featured photo credit: WST
