Ali Carter will take on Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round of the World Snooker Championship on Tuesday, with the ‘The Captain’ revealing he came close to quitting the sport
Ronnie O’Sullivan faces Ali Carter on Tuesday as he returns to the World Snooker Championship.
However, things could have played out completely differently for ‘The Rocket’ if his opponent followed his aspirations of becoming a commercial pilot. As the snooker world gears up for its most prestigious tournament, O’Sullivan aims to surpass his already impressive record of seven world titles.
Meanwhile, Carter, at 45, could have been in the cockpit rather than at the Crucible had he followed through with his thoughts of quitting snooker. Speaking to Sporting Life about considerations to leave snooker behind, Carter said: “Oh, definitely.
“I spoke to a good friend of mine, Mike Rowland, who owns the Andrewsfield flying school. I said, ‘I’ve had enough of this snooker lark, defeats hurt big time and I’m just punch drunk with it’.
“‘I’ve just had enough of it and I’ll go and do something else. I might train and be a commercial pilot’. He said, ‘Mate, you’re best on the snooker table, you’re still good enough to win, you’re still good enough to earn a lot of money’.
“He told me that I didn’t want to be starting at the beginning in an aviation career at my age, there was plenty of time for that. I was 43, ranked about 20 in the world and as he said I was only at 40 per cent power.
“He said to me, ‘If you can up it to 70 per cent power, let’s see what we can get out of it. You’re never going to be 100 per cent with the snooker, down the club eight hours a day, with everything else you’ve got’,” reports the Express.
In a separate conversation, Carter also discussed his passion for flying. He said: “The flying started when we were down to six tournaments after tobacco sponsorship had gone out of the game and I was looking at an alternative career. I got my PPL (private pilot licence), which took a couple of years, and upon realising I could do something else rather than just play snooker, that probably took the pressure off my snooker.
“I then got to the [World Championship] final in 2008, made a 147 [against Peter Ebdon], then my career started happening for me over the next five or six years. I was able to put flying on the backburner and enjoy it as a hobby, and that’s what I’ve done.
“I think it probably has helped my game. I haven’t flown much recently. The weather has been atrocious for one and I’ve been travelling so much. But as soon as the weather turns and I’ve got time, I’ll be down the airfield and getting airborne.”
‘The Captain’ has had a remarkable journey on the green baize since turning professional in 1996, even though he’s yet to clinch a major title. Carter has reached the World Championship finals twice – once in 2008 and again in 2012 – but both times, he was denied victory by none other than O’Sullivan.
Reflecting on his long-standing rival – with whom he’s experienced various highs and lows – ahead of their clash, O’Sullivan shared with TNT Sports: “It is a tough match. Ali is a really good match player, and usually plays well at the Crucible.
“I took time out because my game was pretty awful, so having more time out was probably not the best idea. It is kind of stacked against me, but I have to start somewhere.”