Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter used to be close practice partners – now Rocket’s name is BANNED in hated rival’s home
IT IS snooker’s biggest feud — with shoulder barges, X-rated language, fighting talk, middle fingers and alleged snotty noses.
There was a time when Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter were close practice partners, growing up as teenagers in Essex who dreamt of Crucible success.
But those days are long gone and bad blood between the pair has frequently boiled over in spectacular fashion.
O’Sullivan, 49, meets his long-time foe this afternoon in round one of the World Snooker Championship.
A quirk of the tournament’s early rounds is that players have to sit next to each other in small booths — it will be the closest they have been for years.
Snooker’s GOAT, the Rocket, has come out on top in 24 of 27 meetings, including the 2008 and 2012 world finals.
Carter, whom O’Sullivan once called Mr Angry, got the better of his rival in Sheffield in 2018 when he won 13-9 in the second round and that is when it got physical.
Carter, 45, who jokes that Ronnie is “a banned name” in his snooker room, recalled: “We touched shoulders. There’s plenty of room. I’m thinking, ‘Does he want me to get out of the way?’ I was aware there was no giving way.
“The referee said, ‘calm down lads’ and I did play a bit of a game.
“I thought I’m not going to let him have the last word. He said, ‘I’m cool as a cucumber’, but he looked like he wanted to kill me. He looked absolutely raging. He said, ‘That’s because you’re Mr Angry.’ I said, ‘Thank you’.”
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Inside Ronnie O'Sullivan's 'Snotgate' rivalry
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN’S bitter feud with Ali Carter hit the headlines after the 2024 Masters final, which the world No1 won 10-7.
As they walked past each other, the Rocket shoulder barged his rival in shocking scenes.
After the match, Carter added fuel to the fire as he alleged O’Sullivan violently cleared his nose and labelled him “disgusting”.
He added: It’s outrageous behaviour from a top professional. If it gets swept under the carpet then for me, it’s not good.
“Did we have any words of exchange? No. I’ve got no words for him at all.”
O’Sullivan responded, putting his middle finger up in a press conference while saying: “For him to come out and try to trash talk me like that, do you know what? He can have one of them.
“He can sit on it as far as I’m concerned. I don’t give a f***. You know what he’s like, everybody knows what he’s like. He’s got issues.
“F***ing why has he got issues with me? I’m not having it. I don’t care, grow some balls.
“I don’t give a f***. The more he brings it on, the more I f***ing punish him every time.”
Carter, who has twice fought cancer, told Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips channel: “He used to come over to Witham and we practised together. When, all of a sudden, we’re competitors, I’d find times where he wouldn’t say hello.
“I don’t know too much about him. I hold no malice now. I’m not around him enough for him to feature in my life.
“We know he’s a great player. As to anything else, I let people make their own minds up. Whatever you say, the staunch Ronnie fans will always slaughter you.
“Ronnie uses his authority to say, ‘This is my table, you’re just taking part’. You constantly feel him there. Fair enough, if that’s what he feels he needs to do to win.
“I’ve played Mark Williams and John Higgins many times and with those guys it’s a fair game. There’s none of that nonsense involved.”
It all kicked off again after the 2024 Masters final, which O’Sullivan won 10-7, as a war of words erupted in the press conference.
Carter accused bogeyman O’Sullivan of violently clearing his nose on the carpet while sitting in his chair in the final frames of the Ally Pally finale.
The Colchester cueist fumed: “It’s quite frankly disgusting. No one wants to say anything, do they? Snotting all over the floor and all that.
“I mean, it’s outrageous behaviour from a top professional.”
In response, O’Sullivan stuck up his middle finger in protest and stormed out of his post-match press duties.
The seven-time world champion said: “I don’t give a f***. You know what he’s like, everybody knows what he’s like. “He’s got issues. F***ing why has he got issues with me? I’m not having it. I don’t care, grow some balls.
“I don’t give a f***. The more he brings it on, the more I f***ing punish him every time. He’s just digging a grave for himself. He needs to sort his f***ing life out.
“Playing snooker against someone like that is a nightmare. He’s not a nice person.”
On the eve of the tournament, the Rocket, who has not played competitively since January, admitted his regrets over that emotional outburst.
He said: “It’s fine. It was probably just heat of the moment stuff at the time.
“I’ve always said that I wished I wouldn’t have said what I said but I can’t take it back.
“It’s kind of out in the open. Neither of us really think much about it.”