Ali Carter

Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player.

Carter turned professional in 1996.

He first emerged in 1999, winning the WPBSA Young Player of the Year award after winning the Benson and Hedges Championship in 1999 – this earned him a wild card place in the Masters.

He also reached the semi-finals of the 1999 Grand Prix.

He followed this by defeating two former champions in succession; provisional World Number 1 Shaun Murphy 13–4 in the second round and then 2002 winner Peter Ebdon 13–9 in the quarter-final.

He was close to the elite top 16 for three successive seasons, ranking as 17, 19, and 19 through 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06, respectively, before reaching it in the 2006–07 season and remaining there in 2008.

He reached the last 16 (second round) of the World Championship in 2005, after scoring the first 10–0 victory in the event since 1993 against 1993 semi-finalist James Wattana in qualifying.

It was eight years before he reached another ranking semi-final, the 2007 Malta Cup.

At the 2007 World Championship he beat Andy Hicks in the first round, 10–4, before beating World Number 1 and seven-time champion Stephen Hendry 13–6 to reach his first World Championship quarter-final and guarantee a place in the top 16.

Carter has at times missed out on opportunities from winning positions, an extreme example being in the first round of the 2007 UK Championship, when he led Barry Hawkins 8–3 before Hawkins won the next six frames to win 9–8.

He has twice been a World Championship finalist, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

However, Carter got his own back on Hawkins during the 2008 World Championship by beating him 10–9 in a 'controversial' finale.

Hawkins had levelled the match to 9–9, when the players were pulled out of the arena to allow the evening matches to begin.

They returned after one of the evening's two matches had been completed – on a table they had not previously played on.

Hawkins felt this break interrupted his momentum, handing the match to Carter.

In the semi-final on 4 May 2008 he beat Joe Perry 17–15 to book a place against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final.

Carter lost the final 8–18.

Carter scored his first 147 break on 29 April 2008 at the World Championship, one day after Ronnie O'Sullivan had made one in the same tournament.

This made Carter the sixth man to achieve this feat at the Crucible (the eighth made there, as O'Sullivan had previously achieved it three times), and the first to have done so without previously winning a tournament.

It is the first time two 147s have been made in the same event.

Carter soon showed signs of carrying this form forward in subsequent events.

He won his second non-ranking tournament, the Huangshan Cup in China, with a 5–3 win over the reigning Grand Prix champion Marco Fu.

In the 2008–09 season, Carter reached the semi-final stage on three occasions.

He progressed to the semi-finals of the season's first ranking event, the 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy before losing 5–6 to O'Sullivan having led 5–4.

He reached the same stage of the Grand Prix, defeating veterans Steve Davis and John Parrott before losing to Ryan Day, again 5–6 The third occasion was the UK Championship where wins over Peter Ebdon and Mark Williams were followed by a close 7–9 defeat to the man he was victorious against in the Huangshan Cup final in China, Marco Fu.

After thirteen years as a professional, Carter defeated the likes of Jimmy White, Graeme Dott, Shaun Murphy, Anthony Hamilton, and Joe Swail to finally win his first ranking tournament – the 2009 Welsh Open.

He made a slow start to the 2009–10 season, losing 0–5 to Liang Wenbo in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters and losing in the first round at the Grand Prix, before reaching the quarter-finals of the UK Championship.

As the defending champion at the Welsh Open he progressed to the final but was beaten by John Higgins, the reigning world champion at the time.

He finished the season strongly by reaching the semi-finals at the China Open and the World Championship, losing in the latter to eventual champion, Neil Robertson, by 12–17.

Of the six ranking tournaments that were staged during the 2009–10 season, Carter's campaigns were ended by the eventual champion on four occasions, and on another by the runner-up.

He finished the season by moving up to a career high position of 4th in the world rankings.

He has won five ranking titles and briefly reached number two in the world rankings in 2010.

His nickname, "The Captain", comes from his hobby of piloting aeroplanes.

Carter won the 2010 Shanghai Masters.

He had to recover from 1–4 down in the quarter-final to defeat Matthew Stevens 5–4, Stevens missing the final black off its spot in the deciding frame.

He then won six frames in a row from 0–2 down to beat Mark Selby 6–2, and edged past qualifier Jamie Burnett 10–7 in the final.

The following events were not very successful for Carter, as he was eliminated in the last 32 of the World Open by Mark Williams 1–3, he suffered an early exit against the young talent Mark Joyce in the first round of the UK Championship by 6–9 and also lost his first round match of the 2011 Masters against Peter Ebdon by 5–6.

Carter's 2011–12 season got off to a poor start as he exited the first two ranking events of the year, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters, in the first round.

At the UK Championships he defeated Robert Milkins, but then lost 2–6 to Mark Allen in the last 16.

After the match Carter stated on Twitter: "I'm going to retire at the end of the season! And I can't wait!"