Mark Allen throws shade at Ronnie O'Sullivan in private Ali Carter chat at the Masters
Mark Allen had a private chat with Ali Carter after losing in the Masters semi-finals.
Mark Allen has revealed he told Ali Carter he’s been the best player at the Masters this week following their semi-final showdown on Saturday. The Pistol has backed his conqueror to get the better of seven-time Masters champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in Sunday’s showpiece event.
Allen made a 147 during his quarter-final victory over Mark Selby on Friday to book his place in the last four. But he was unable to get the better of Carter, who won the contest 6-3. And Allen told Eurosport: “You can never write off Ronnie, I know he hasn’t played his best this week.
“He played pretty well against [semi-final opponent] Shaun [Murphy] from what I’ve read. Like I said to Ali at the end, he’s been the best player this week. He’s scored heavy - if he plays the way he’s been playing this week he’ll win. Will he though? That’s the big question.
“He’s a good all-round player. Great long-potter, good scorer and he’s shown very recently that he’s very good under pressure too. An all-round good player.”
O’Sullivan, who thrashed Murphy 6-2 in their last four encounter after overcoming Barry Hawkins 6-3 in the quarters, is also expecting a tough match against Carter after heaping praise on his final opponent.
“I don’t really assess anyone at all, I don’t look at their games, I don’t really follow it, to be honest,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought Carter played well [against Judd Trump in the quarters]. I did actually watch quite a lot of that match, I thought Carter played really well, fantastic snooker.”
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Carter has never won the Masters but reached the final of the tournament in 2020 before losing to Stuart Bingham. And following his victory over Allen, the Captain explained: “I really got it going in the middle there. Mark showed what a good player he is, making a good ton himself. I thought the balls were turning there, but I hung in and got it going again. I’m delighted and I’m looking forward to having a crack at The Rocket tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, O’Sullivan has told the younger snooker players to knock him off his perch as he stated: “I don't feel that old. I feel young in my mind. I feel a lot younger round the table when I play these younger players.
“They look old and their brains are quite slow. I still feel my brain is pretty quick round the snooker table, which is enough. They need to get their acts together because I am going blind, have got a dodgy arm and bad knees and they still can't beat me.”