O'Sullivan beats Carter in thrilling Masters final and make more snooker history

Ronnie O’Sullivan battled to an eighth Masters title on Sunday night (Picture: Getty Images)

Ronnie O’Sullivan has become the oldest ever winner of the Masters after a thrilling 10-7 victory over Ali Carter at Alexandra Palace.

The 48-year-old is now the youngest and oldest winner of the tournament thanks to his eighth title, just as he became at the UK Championship when he lifted the trophy in York last month.

The Rocket is also the oldest ever winner of the World Championship, meaning he has ticked off that record in all three Triple Crowns, but he missed the chance to beat Stephen Hendry’s record as the youngest champion at the Crucible long ago.

‘I don’t know how I’ve won this tournament to be honest,’ said O’Sullivan. ‘I’ve just dug deep, tried to play with a bit of freedom. Tonight I just tried to keep Ali honest and if he’s going to win it he’s going to have to scrape me off the table.’

Things looked sticky for O’Sullivan on Sunday, with Carter playing brilliantly and the Rocket not looking that engaged in the afternoon session as he took on some reckless shots.

The Captain finished that opening session 5-3 ahead and didn’t look like the break in play had slowed him down as he won the first frame on resumption.

However, O’Sullivan was playing more sensible match-play in the evening, taking on more textbook shots and it was paying off.

Carter put up a brilliant fight but came up short against O’Sullivan (Picture: Getty Images)

The Rocket reeled off three frames on the spin to level the game up at 6-6, but Carter was unfazed, knocking in a 127 to retake the lead at 7-6.

That was Carter’s ninth century of the tournament, becoming the first player to make that number of tons in a single Masters event, illustrating how good he has been all week.

O’Sullivan was not faultless, but improving, while after that century Carter began to wilt a bit and the Rocket again won three on the spin to go just one frame from the title at 9-7 ahead.

The Captain could count himself unlucky with a missed chance in the 15th with the score at 7-7, unfortunate with a cannon on three remaining reds which eventually saw him lose a close one.

However, his challenge faded after that and after he missed a long red in the 17th, O’Sullivan stepped in to make 48 before breaking down. Carter was handed a chance then, and surprisingly another after the Rocket missed a simple red, but his form had deserted him and O’Sullivan got over the line.

O’Sullivan beat Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins and Shaun Murphy to make the final (Picture: Getty Images)

In a message to the Alexandra Palace crowd and fans across the world, the Rocket said: ‘The crowd have always been good to me over the years.

‘That’s the one thing I take from my career, the support that I’ve had everywhere around the world. To all the snooker fans, thank you for your support.

‘I’ll keep trying till I can’t pot no more balls.’

Snooker’s GOAT has now won eight Masters titles to go with his seven World Championships and eight UK Championships, and has the chance to complete the Triple Crown all in one season, which he has never done in his career to date.

For now he will be celebrating with the Paul Hunter Trophy and the £250,000 top prize, with Carter settling for £100,000 for finishing runner-up.

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