Ali Carter has fired a warning to Ronnie O'Sullivan and believes he could win the World Snooker Championship next month.
Back in January, O'Sullivan fought back from 6-3 down to defeat Carter 10-7 in the Masters final but a number of incidents during the match overshadowed events on the table.
Things got heated when both players barged shoulders and soon, tensions escalated when Carter refused to congratulate his opponent when speaking to the BBC.
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He also criticised the crowd for supporting O'Sullivan and accused his opponent of 'snotting all over the floor' during the match, describing it as 'outrageous behaviour'.
O'Sullivan soon responded, saying: "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**k. The more he brings it on, the more I f***ing punish him every time."
Two months later and Carter thinks he can prevent O'Sullivan from winning next month's tournament at the Crucible.
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Speaking to the WST Podcast, he said: “When I played at the Masters back in January, I was telling myself I was going to win that event.
"Rather than telling yourself, you're going to lose or someone is going to beat you, why not tell yourself you are going to win it? I played really great stuff all week.
"That reminded me that I am a top player because to play well in that atmosphere, that environment, you have to have something about you. I know I didn’t win it but we had a really good game in the final, I made the most centuries I’ve ever made and that’s ever been made there.
“If I can take that form into the crucible, with that attitude, then I think with the sort of game that I’ve got, I could be dangerous.
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"Whether I win the World Championship or not, it doesn’t matter, I believe this year, probably for the first time, I could win it.
“Obviously we’d all like to break build like Ronnie, of course, we would. But there’s more than one way to go about this game and as good as Ronnie O’Sullivan is, he doesn’t win every tournament – he pretty much does at the minute, the ones he enters – so there’s room for other players to win.”
O'Sullivan is current the bookies favourite to lift a record-breaking eighth World Championship, while Carter is an outside bet at 25/1.
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The tournament will take place from Saturday 20 April to Monday 6 May.
Topics: Ronnie OSullivan, Snooker
Jack Kenmare