Snooker fans are rubbing their hands at the thought of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter butting heads at the Crucible this month. The long-time rivals have clashed on numerous occasions over the years and will headline easily the most anticipated matchup of the 2025 World Snooker Championship.
The snooker stars have clashed on numerous occasions over the years and share arguably the most infamous rivalry of their generation. And Carter, in particular, will be eager to get one over on ‘The Rocket’ in Sheffield, having lost two World Championship finals to his nemesis (in 2008 and 2012).
Not that it’s been one-way traffic in their head-to-head. After all, it was one of Carter’s victories over O’Sullivan at the Crucible that led to the pair getting physical and really sending their feud into overdrive.
Despite not playing since his cue-snapping incident in January, O’Sullivan returns to the World Championship as the fifth seed and faces a tough opening test in No 18 Carter. Mirror Sport profiles the eventful history between the pair and where their rivalry stands ahead of their first meeting in 12 months.
Much of today’s tension between O’Sullivan and Carter stems from a particularly chaotic encounter at the 2018 World Snooker Championship. The former training partners had a few brushes coming and going around the table that eventually culminated in O’Sullivan landing a noticeable shoulder barge on his opponent, which took both Carter, commentators and fans by surprise.
“We touched shoulders before the second incident. So we’re sitting [close] together, it’s so tight [at the Crucible],” he told Stephen Hendry on his Cue Tips YouTube channel last year. “I became aware that the first one, he was walking back but there is plenty of room to go like that [walk past each other].
“I was aware that we’d touched shoulders on the way past and I’m thinking, ‘Does he want me to go like this, or like that?’ [leans over the snooker table]. I don’t know, if it was courteous you’d just go like that [moves to one side], but I was aware there was no giving way. The second time, he’s given it that to me [mimics shoulder barge]. I thought ‘Oh, god, what’s going on here?’”
Referee Paul Collier attempted to simmer the situation before O’Sullivan assured the official he was “cool as a cucumber.” However, Carter didn’t agree with that version of events after he told Hendry that The Rocket looked like he “wanted to kill” him.
“He looked absolutely raging,” added the Englishman. “That was pretty much it. If it was an amateur you’d get your cue and go like that [hold it in front of him], push him out the way wouldn’t you? The trouble is, general public don’t see that [O’Sullivan’s behaviour]. He’s very much using his authority to say ‘This is my table, you’re just taking part here.'”
It was almost six years later at the 2024 Masters that the feud flared up once again. And it was another accusation of one star being uncouth that led to a major falling out after Carter claimed O’Sullivan had “snotted” on the ground during their finale.
‘The Captain’ lost 10-7 in the tournament’s decider, but the drama didn’t end once the final frames had been played. That was after he alleged O’Sullivan had emptied his nose while sat down in his chair during the closing stages of the match.
“There were a couple of things that happened out there that go unnoticed,” he told reporters. “Well, they don’t go unnoticed but anyone with an eyesight or a brain can see what’s going on. And it’s disgusting quite frankly.
“No one wants to say anything, do they? Snotting all over the floor and all that. I mean it’s outrageous behaviour from a top professional. If it gets swept under the carpet then for me, it’s not good.”
Carter went on to say he had “no words” for his opponent despite the extent of his accusation. But the biggest controversy was still to come as O’Sullivan fired back.
It wasn’t long after learning of Carter’s consternation at the 2024 Masters that The Rocket rallied with his rebuttal. And the seven-time world champion wasted no time at all in venting his frustrations after learning what had been levied against him.
“He needs to sort his f***ing life out,” said O’Sullivan at the champion’s press conference, flashing a middle finger for cameras to see midway through. “I’m not going to skirt around it anymore, tip-toeing on egg shells around someone like that. He’s a f***ing nightmare. Playing snooker against someone like that is a nightmare.
“He’s not a nice person. It’s not a nice vibe he leaves around the table. I’ve said my piece, I don’t give a s**t. I’ve said it now, done. You know what he’s like, everybody knows what he’s like. He’s got issues.
“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, I don’t give a f**k about any of these snooker players, any of them. The more he brings it on, the more I f***ing punish him every time. He’s just digging a grave for himself. I don’t give a f**k. That’s it, I’ve said my piece.”
It’s fair to say the allegations from one of his least favourite figures on the World Snooker Tour drew the worst out of the 49-year-old. However, there have been multiple junctures for the pair to mend bridges since then.
It’s difficult to ascertain exactly where the snooker stars stand today, given the mixed accounts of their relationship over the past year or so. Certain comments have given the impression that their Masters melee is now “water under the bridge,” and Carter has said precisely that.
Except O’Sullivan appeared reticent to the notion that he had offered an olive branch by apologising to his peer. And that response left Carter dumbfounded, with his nemesis seemingly dead against the idea that he had conceded any sort of ground in their competition, even if just in private.
“I haven’t been the fondest of Ronnie over the years, but I’ve got the ultimate respect for him as a player and what did give me ultimate respect for him was at the UK Championship, at the hotel when I was having breakfast,” said Carter in 2019 following their original shoulder barge episode. “‘This was some months later and he came over to me – he doesn’t need to speak to me – and he came over and said, ‘Ali, I’d just like to apologise and there’s no hard feelings,’ and he shook my hand.
“So I thought to myself, ‘Hats off to the man,’ and he looked me straight in the eye when he said it and he meant it. It’s all water under the bridge and he’s a good guy.”
But that wouldn’t do for Ronnie, who apparently couldn’t be seen as submitting in response. And O’Sullivan went to the lengths of clarifying as much when asked about the supposed apology.
“I didn’t apologise to Ali,” he told the WST the following year. “I just said, ‘Look, let’s move on, let’s not hold any grudges over it. I still feel that I was in the right, so that apology that they say that I said was definitely not an apology.”
In response to those comments, Carter has since attempted to take the high road. Seemingly fed up with the non-stop nature of their rivalry, The Captain appeared almost apathetic when asked about O’Sullivan denying any apology had taken place.
“Well look, whatever makes him happy. I must have imagined it then,” Carter told Metro. ‘It really makes no difference to my life whatsoever whether he apologised or whether he didn’t, I don’t care, whatever makes him happy.
“But, I’m not going to make it up. Someone’s making it up and it’s either me or him, so take your choice. I generally know what I’m saying on a day-to-day basis. But, maybe I got it wrong? It’s a mystery.”
Speaking in January 2025, O’Sullivan described all the animosity as “just heat of the moment stuff” and said he “wished he’d kept his mouth shut.” Only time will tell how long that calm lasts as the pair reunite next week.
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