TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP O’SULLIVAN THROUGH TO SEMIS WITH DISMANTLING OF FIERCE RIVAL CARTER.

Ronnie O’Sullivan showcased his dominance once again as he breezed into the semi-finals of the 2024 Tour Championship with a commanding 10-2 victory over Ali Carter on Wednesday. Despite their history of fiery battles and heated exchanges in the past, this match failed to live up to the hype as O’Sullivan capitalized on Carter’s poor performance to comfortably advance in the competition.

The Rocket displayed his formidable skills, compiling breaks of 92, 87, 81, 77, 54, and 51 to establish a commanding 7-0 lead. Carter managed to halt O’Sullivan’s momentum briefly in the last frame of the first session with a remarkable 141 total clearance, the highest break of the week so far. However, any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed as O’Sullivan continued his dominance in the second session, reeling off three consecutive frames with breaks of 67, 62, and 54.

Prior to the match, O’Sullivan, the 2019 Tour Championship winner, expressed his intention to refrain from making comments about other players after being involved in various verbal spats with Carter and others on the main tour. Speaking to ITV, O’Sullivan stated, “I don’t comment on players now. I’ve learned my lesson and there’s no value in it for me.”

He emphasized his desire to focus solely on his game and avoid unnecessary distractions, saying, “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.” O’Sullivan stressed the importance of maintaining his peace of mind and sanity by setting boundaries and refraining from engaging in verbal conflicts with other players.

With this victory, the 48-year-old snooker legend remains on course to add to his impressive haul of five trophies from the prolific 2023/24 season, which includes titles at the Masters, UK Championship, World Grand Prix, Shanghai Masters, and Riyadh Season World Masters. This marks the fourth time in six editions that O’Sullivan has reached the Tour Championship semi-finals, underlining his continued dominance in the sport.

O’Sullivan will next face the winner of the tie between Zhang Anda and Gary Wilson, which is currently tied at 4-4. Meanwhile, Ding Junhui holds a 5-3 advantage over Mark Allen as they reach the halfway point of their match. The outcomes of these matches, along with the quarter-final fixture between Judd Trump and Mark Williams, will be determined on Thursday, setting the stage for an exciting conclusion to the tournament.