Masters Snooker LIVE RESULTS: Ronnie O’Sullivan completes STUNNING comeback to beat Ali Carter in epic final – reaction
RONNIE O'SULLIVAN has completed a stunning comeback to beat Ali Carter 10-7 in the Masters final.
Rocket left himself with work to do this evening after he ended a thrilling afternoon session 5-3 down.
But the uphill task didn't phase O'Sullivan as he came back to win and claim a record-extending eighth Masters title.
Rocket will also take home the huge £250k prize - the same figure he earned for the UK Championship in December.
The 48-year-old becomes the oldest Masters champion - 29 years after he became the youngest.
- O'Sullivan vs Carter result: 10-7
- TV channel: BBC Two/ Eurosport
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer/ discovery+
Follow ALL of the latest updates below...
'£100k in the bank - not a bad week'
Beaten Ali Carter has shrugged off the "morons" in the crowd" by focusing on the new £100,000 in new bank.
The world No10 was disappointed not to halt Ronnie O'Sullivan's comeback win.
But Carter said: "It's been a good week. Plenty of centuries and £100,000 in the bank - it's not bad is it?"
'Numbers don't matter to me'
Ronnie O’Sullivan has U-turned on his "silly" claim that he wants to win eight titles at each Triple Crown event.
The Rocket went to eight successes in the Masters with yesterday's triumph, matching his total of UK Championship titles.
Now he can win a pull off his first ever clean sweep by winning his eighth World Championship crown in the spring at the aged of 48.
He told Eurosport before his Masters final win over Ali Carter: “It was nice when I had seven, seven, seven, and now I’ve got seven, seven, eight.
"So it’d be nice to go eight, eight, eight – the three eights.
"I suppose that’s the sort of motivational thing to try and get another Masters, try and maybe get another Worlds.”
But reflecting on his comeback victory on Sunday, O'Sullivan now says he has "no interest in numbers".
Davis blasts 'silly' comments from fans
Steve Davis has joined the criticism of fans' behaviour during the Masters final.
Beaten Ali Carter blasted "morons" who shouted out while he was lining up shots in Ronnie O'Sullivan's comeback win.
And six-time world champ Davis told BBC Two: "It's tough for both players when you get silly comments.
"You like support and the crowd enjoying the shots but not the stupid comments."
'I haven't mastered snooker'
Despite winning 23 Triple Crown trophies, O'Sullivan insists he is still not the perfect player.
After defeating Ali Carter, he said: "I'm trying to master the game and have never been able to do so, so I will keep trying to.
"I always have a good idea in February or March whether my game is good enough to win the Worlds.
"At the moment it is not good enough to be confident.
"I could still win it, but at the moment I'm having to squeeze everything out just to get a result which is hard, but I will keep fighting."
Cashing in
Ronnie O'Sullivan's win last night saw him pocket £250,000 in prize money.
Ali Carter has taken home £100,000.
Reflecting on defeat
Ali Carter is happy with how he performed at the Masters but is of course distraught after coming so close to lifting the trophy.
He said: "Obviously I'm gutted I lost. It's all about winning at the end of the day, but before I rocked up here last week I'd have taken the final so there's a lot of good things to come for me.
"I'm heading in the right direction.
"Ronnie played very well there in the end. I tried my best and it just wasn't good enough today."
Carter slams supporters
Ali Carter has hit out at "moron" fans after throwing away his lead in the Masters final.
The fuming world No5 said: "It's hard enough to beat O'Sullivan - but when you've got people shouting when you are on your shot and saying stupid things at important times because half of them haven't got enough brains - it's ridiculous.
"There are some morons in the crowd. It is just unbelievable really."
O'Sullivan to take a break
Ronnie O’Sullivan is planning to take “two months off now” as he targets the exhibition circuit before the Crucible.
Speaking on Eurosport, O’Sullivan said: “I’m a bit played-out, to be honest with you.
“I look at the first four months as the main part of my season. I put everything into that and I did better than I thought I would do.
“Subconsciously you think, I was quite content with that. It’s hard to keep motivating yourself. It really is. This game is too hard.
“I’m going to take two months off now. I’ll probably just play next week because it’s 32 players. I’ve earned my way to get in that tournament.
"But I’ll just swerve all the other tournaments now. I feel like I want a break.
"I’m looking forward to getting on the exhibition circuit, start playing more exhibitions, I enjoy them, they’re a bit of fun.
“Too much intense snooker for me is not good. I need to back off and consolidate and get some fun in the game so the exhibitions will be good."
Experience showed
Ronnie O'Sullivan is at home when competing for the biggest trophies in snooker.
But with many of his rivals not due to his dominance, his experience makes the key difference.
The 48-year-old said: "That’s my main asset really now, I just get them to that point and go, okay it’s about potting big balls and holding yourself together.
"There’s a few on the tour that can do it but not many, so I always like to get them in that situation and see if they can produce.
"You know when someone’s bottling it, I’m not saying Ali did, but he let me off the hook tonight, he gave me some breathing space and that gave me a little bit of confidence."
Turn me on
Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed he was "turned on" by Ali Carter's nerves in the Masters final.
The legend is not motivated by titles anymore but found the drive as he wanted to test whether Carter, who has never won a snooker major, had the toughness to secure glory.
O'Sullivan told Eurosport: "I just had to keep Ali honest, I thought let’s see if he had the bottle to get over the line.
"That was the only thing that turned me on tonight. Let’s just get him to that point. I want to see if he twitches. I love seeing it when their bottle goes. I love it.
"You can play terrible and still get them in that position and it’s like, let’s see if you can do it? That’s what was driving me on tonight, get him to that point to go, come on, let’s see if you’ve got it.
"Not many people have. It’s a good place to find out, when you’re out there."
Tasty win
Before Ronnie O'Sullivan won the UK Championship at the beginning of December, he revealed his celebrations are as low-key as possible these days.
Asked what he would do if he went all the way, the Rocket said he would treat himself to "a couple of Snickers bars, a bag of crisps and a Diet Coke on the motorway on the way home.
He added: "That's one of my favourite things to do after a few days away on the road.
"I just dive into a double Snickers, a bag of cheese and onion, and a Diet Coke.
"Amazing. It hits the spot perfect."
Final stopped
There was a bizarre moment in yesterday's final when the match had to stop due to a technical blunder.
O'Sullivan and Carter were left waiting around as repairman appeared to fix the problem.
Gone to pot
Ali Carter was criticised by fans after initially refusing to accept his Masters runners-up medal.
The world number ten was presented with his runner-up medal by World Snooker Tour chairman Steve Dawson, but took it in his hand after refusing to allow Dawson to drape in round his neck.
Some fans felt he was a sore loser while others accepted it was a tough loss for Carter to take.
One said: "Bad loser. He came second and won a lot of money from the man about to put it around his neck. Not hard for somebody to deal with and if he can’t then he should take a hard look at his attitude."
Work-life balance
Ronnie O'Sullivan is not feeling "burnt" out and is not feeling the pressure to win more trophies.
He revealed: “I just try and incorporate it into my life. That’s how I view snooker.
"It has been all of my life so I have to get that balance right between making sure I am ready to play, rather than feeling I have to put in loads of work and practice as I want to win tournaments.
"I am not burnt up by that anymore.
“It is just about going out and playing enough that if I get to a tournament and it all comes together, great.
"If it does not, I am going to try and put on as good a show as I can.”
Ron and only
Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted he is not even that thrilled about clinching eight Masters titles.
The record-breaking legend said: "It is hard to get excited by it as I have been doing it for so long."
After eight
Ronnie O'Sullivan revealed he regrets comments he made about targeting an eighth Masters title.
The Rocket managed to win it anyway but wishes he never said it was his driving factor.
He said: "I wish I hadn’t mentioned that stupid eight, eight, eight.
“I am not even interested in it, but sometimes you feel you have got to say something.
"Really I have no interest in numbers.”
Fight back
Ronnie O'Sullivan refused go down without a fight as he fought back from 6-3 down to beat Ali Carter 10-7.
The Rocket never gave up but shocked himself as he picked up the his eighth Masters.
O'Sullivan said: "I don’t know how I’ve won this tournament, to be honest with you.
"I’ve just dug deep. I’ve tried to play with a bit of freedom and then tonight I just thought try to keep Ali honest and if he’s going to win it he’s going to have to scrape me off the table.
“I just wanted to see if he had it at the end.”
Parrott praises Ronnie
John Parrott has hailed Ronnie O'Sullivan as one of the greatest in the sporting world.
He said: “This boy is the closest thing to genius around.
"He’s the greatest player ever to pick up a cue by far. Show me a better sportsperson.”
Beckham congratulates Ronnie
Ronnie O'Sullivan shared a message from David Beckham - congratulating him on his latest Masters win.
The Rocket replied: "Thanks mate."
Both are not only sporting legends, but recently starred in successful documentaries.
Becks' appeared on Netflix, while Ronnie's featured on Amazon Prime.
Virgo makes a valid point
John Virgo, as usual, was in his commentary position at the Masters as Ronnie overcame Ali Carter.
He has since taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to voice his feelings on O'Sullivan's epic win.
Rock star celebrates Ronnie's win
Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to celebrate pal Ronnie O'Sullivan's amazing Masters win.
The Welsh rocker even shared a snap with Rolling Stones axeman Ronnie Wood and the snooker legend with his message of congratulations.
O'Sullivan tweets
Ronnie O'Sullivan has taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to celebrate his latest success.
Carter impresses
Steve Davis revealed he was impressed by Ali Carter, who could be a tip for the World Championships.
He told BBC Sport: "It was a fantastic performance by him, he just failed at the final hurdle but he was playing against a player who was putting him under so much pressure so it's understandable. He didn't do a lot wrong.
"I was really impressed with Ali Carter, he was back to his best and who's to say he's not going to have something to say at the World Championship?"
He's in the money
Thanks to his Masters win, Ronnie O'Sullivan has walked away with a cheque for £250,000.
For his part in getting to the final, Ali Carter receives £100,000.
Rocket Ronnie is already believed to have a £15million fortune.
Parrott on Ronnie's chances at Worlds
John Parrott believes Ronnie O'Sullivan goes to the World Championships as favourite.
He's going there as the favourite, that's for certain. It's a bigger test there, it's a lot longer and more draining mentally. But if you've won it seven times, you can win it again. Who's going to bet against him?
John Parrott
