Ronnie O’Sullivan crushes bitter ‘Snotgate’ rival Ali Carter 10-2 in one-sided Tour Championship quarter-final clash

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN is as keen as mustard to win the Tour Championship this weekend.

The Rocket was in splendid form as he crushed cueing rival Ali Carter 10-2 at Manchester Central in the penultimate event of the season.

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It was the pair’s first meeting since the Masters final at Ally Pally in January when O’Sullivan, 48, was accused by Carter, 44, of “snotting all over the place”.

The world No.1 rejected wearing a white or black shirt under his waistcoat for this Grudge Match and went instead for a mustard-type attire.

For older TV viewers, it brought back strong vibes of the late Welsh star Doug Mountjoy, who used to like frilly and colourful shirts in the late 1980s.

O’Sullivan – who has banked more than £1.16million this year – is chasing a £150,000 sweetener this Sunday if he wins this tournament for the first time since 2019.

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Next up in Friday’s semi-finals he will face either Gary Wilson or China’s Zhang Anda – those two were locked at 4-4 after their opening session.

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O’Sullivan said: “It was a win. It’s difficult to assess your performance. I tried to play the right shot every time.

“It’s a great venue, a brilliant tournament, really good this event. It’s good to be in it.

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“Where we put all these stickers and badges on different shirts at different tournaments, I have literally ruined every black shirt I have got. This is the only one I have left in the wardrobe.

“I thought I would give this one a good seeing to – this will be knackered by the end of the season I suppose.”

If Carter thought he had any chance of dethroning the seven-time world champion, then those hopes disappeared as he went down 7-1 in the afternoon session.

O’Sullivan, universally accepted as the sport’s greatest player, scored breaks of 77, 87, 54, 51, 81 and 92 as he raced into a 7-0 lead.

And then added breaks of 62, 54 and 67 in the evening as he wrapped it up without the need of a mid-session interval.