Masters snooker 2024: Ali Carter hits three straight centuries in epic win over Mark Allen to reach final
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Published 13/01/2024 at 23:22 GMT
Ali Carter made three successive centuries in a tournament first as he reached the 2024 Masters final, where he will face seven-time Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan. Carter made breaks of 100, 101 and 105 on his way to a terrific victory over Allen, who also knocked in a ton in a high-quality encounter. Carter is chasing his first Masters title after making the final just once back in 2020.
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Ali Carter will face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2024 Masters final after a stunning 6-3 victory over Mark Allen on Sunday.
‘The Captain’ made tournament history and racked up three straight centuries in an emphatic performance at Alexandra Palace as he chases his first Masters title.
Carter will meet O’Sullivan on Sunday, who dispatched Murphy 6-2 earlier on Saturday to wrap up the first final spot.
A slow, underwhelming opening frame tilted in Allen’s favour as the Northern Irishman took control of a scrappy start to the second semi-final.
After a tense safety exchange, Allen, 42-12 ahead, capitalised to conjure up a 78-point clearance for first blood.
Carter made the ideal response after giving Carter the initial opening and notched up a break of 71, sparked by an outstanding long red followed by a bullet blue.
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‘The Pistol’ made a late attempt to steal the frame and managed a 32-break but came up short on the final red, which Carter tapped in for the equaliser.
The second frame certainly helped Carter find his groove, and back-to-back centuries moved him two frames clear by the mid-session interval.
Carter worked his way through the congested reds before potting a screwed black to the left corner to open up the pack, and from there made 100 on the nose for 2-1.
Another dominant frame followed from the 44-year-old after a string of well-worked safety shots from the pair, before Allen nailed a flukey triple plant to bottom left.
Carter found his way out of a tricky escape and Allen, attempting another safety from baulk, did the same thing again, nicking a red into the corner pocket.
The pack was spread and the Pistol had the opportunity to put up a heavy score, but poor positioning meant it didn’t come to fruition.
Carter returned to the table and pounced on the opportunity to knock in another century, passing the ton mark for 101.
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The players returned the baize after the break and Allen was in the same spot as he was in during his quarter-final final victory over Mark Selby on Friday, 3-1 down.
But this time he fell three frames behind, as Carter continued his blistering form to sparkle in front of the Alexandra Palace crowd.
He manoeuvred his way through some sticky spots to become the first player to produce three consecutive centuries at the Masters, adding an effort of 105 to his preceding tons.
With the match slipping away from Allen, Carter’s spellbinding form came to a grinding halt at the beginning of frame six when he missed a simple red hanging over the bottom left pocket.
The reds couldn’t have been more open and inviting, as Allen returned to the table with plenty of options and made the most of his opportunity, knocking in 101 for a century of his own and the fourth straight ton of the match.
And just like every round in North London this week, Allen's best snooker came late on as he edged the seventh frame 66-55 to close the gap to one.
Carter adopted an aggressive playing style in the following frame and was left perplexed when, at 43-0 up, a red along the bottom cushion rattled the jaws and stayed out.
Allen could only manage a run of eight, as Carter returned to the table and after a period of safety exchanges, the Captain fired a delightful long red to the bottom right which opened up the table as he went on to move within one frame of the final.
There was a brief pause in play during the final frame when staff inside Alexandra Palace attended to a medical emergency in the crowd, but Carter didn’t allow the unfortunate stoppage to put him off his stride.
He came from 45-20 down to win a highly tactical 42-minute eighth frame 65-47 and seal his spot in the final.
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