Carter can see ‘Rocket’ imploding

Ali Carter has predicted red-hot favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan will fail to last the distance at the Betfred.com World Championship.

Ali Carter has predicted red-hot favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan will fail to last the distance at the Betfred.com World Championship.

Carter suffered a crushing 18-8 defeat at the hands of his fellow Essex cueman in last May's final at the Crucible and is determined to go one better this time.

But, if Carter reaches the final again, he would be surprised if O'Sullivan is the player waiting for him there, because he fancies either John Higgins or Peter Ebdon to kill off the 33-year-old's bid for back-to-back titles.

Ebdon is a potential quarter-final opponent and memorably knocked out O'Sullivan at that stage three years ago when an extraordinary comeback at go-slow pace befuddled his fancied opponent.

Higgins, who defeated 'the Rocket' at the recent Bank of Beijing China Open and the World Championship in 2007, could lie in wait in the semi-finals.

Stephen Hendry was the last player to win successive World Championships, when he won his fifth in a row in 1996, and Carter expects that statistic to stay intact.

‘I don't think Ronnie will be in the final this year,’ Carter said today.

‘I think he'll get beaten in the mid rounds.

‘I think John Higgins is a good bet and Peter Ebdon at 33-1 is who my money would be on.

‘He's won it before, he's come back to a bit of form and he won the China Open.

‘(O'Sullivan) has got a tough half of the draw and John Higgins beat him the last time he lost here, and John Higgins beat him in China. John Higgins is not scared of playing Ronnie.’

Carter, 29, features in the bottom half of the draw and is thankful for that, given O'Sullivan, Higgins and Ebdon are in a top section that is set to be fiercely competitive.

‘Ronnie will be fighting to win this like anything, he'll be trying his hardest,’ Carter said.

‘But it's hard, it's such a long tournament. Anything can go wrong and, when you're playing world-class players like John Higgins in your half, it's not a guarantee for him to get there.’

Carter takes issue with O'Sullivan's opinion the sport is losing its lustre.

O'Sullivan claimed at the start of the year snooker was ‘dying’ but Carter suggests that is not the case and is baffled why the world number one would make such a statement.

‘I don't see what he gets out of saying the game is dying,’ Carter said.

‘He loves the game more than anyone in the world, he's played it since he was eight years old and deep down it's not dying at all.

‘He'd be gutted if it was dead, like we all would.’

Although O'Sullivan has won three world titles this century, Carter cannot imagine any player dominating the sport in the way seven-time champion Hendry bossed the 1990s, while six-time winner Steve Davis proved almost unbeatable in the previous decade.

‘I don't think that's possible now,’ Carter said.

‘The standard is so high I think it's impossible to get domination like Davis and Hendry did.
Ronnie obviously is winning more than his fair share but he's not dominating by any means.

‘That just goes to show how hard it is.’

Carter launches his bid for glory when he takes on qualifier Gerard Greene at the weekend.

Their match begins on Saturday evening, when O'Sullivan will be completing his opener against Stuart Bingham, and concludes on Sunday afternoon.

Carter will not be taking Greene lightly but he should not be overly troubled.

‘He's a good player, a good natural, attacking player,’ Carter said.

‘I'm going to have to be on top of my game to beat him.’

When he reached last year's final, Carter had scarcely any time to recover from his draining 17-15 semi-final victory over Joe Perry before going straight into the biggest match of his life.

‘I learned how hard it was to get to the final, never mind to win it,’ he continued.

‘Mentally I had to be a lot fitter and I wasn't ready to win it last year.

‘It was very hard in the final. I was very tired and Ronnie didn't make it easy for me.
‘He was very good and his safety play was superb.

‘You learn a lot about yourself when you're in that position and it's hardened me up for this season, definitely.

‘I didn't have anything left in the tank. It's the world final and you're supposed to go out there and play really well and make loads of centuries but in reality it wasn't like that.

‘I had such a hard ride. I won 10-9 in the first round, 13-9 in the quarters and 17-15 in the semis and I was up late that night and the final started the next day.

‘I didn't have time to come down off a semi-final, let alone prepare for a final.

‘I'm ready to play well this year and I'll take whatever that brings at the end of the two weeks.’