Ali Carter lost to Mark Selby in the World Grand Prix this week, but he won’t be holding a grudge match with Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Following O’Sullivan’s triumph in the Masters final on Sunday, both players—Carter and O’Sullivan—have gotten into a nasty verbal exchange, with O’Sullivan claiming the other has mental health problems.
Carter lost a final-frame thriller to Selby, falling 4-3 in the last 16, and they are both playing in Leicester this week. Originally, they were supposed to meet in another final.
With a break of 103 to tie the match at 3-3, Carter appeared to be in the lead heading into the final.
However, Selby performed admirably when it counted, making a solid 77 to move on to his hometown’s quarterfinals.
The next game O’Sullivan plays is on Thursday against Zhou Yuelong.
In the final eight, Selby will take against Judd Trump, who defeated Lyu Haotian 4-0.
Selby, who has experienced some fluctuating results, said to ITV: “I feel good when I play, but it is annoying how erratic I am from match to match. I feel fine physically on the shot, which is concerning because normally when you’re fine physically, things work out. However, I am in and out.
“I look forward to it, Judd is one of the all time greats himself, if you don’t play your best you are going home.”
Mark Williams defeated Hossein Vafaei 4-1, while Cao Yupeng soundly defeated Shaun Murphy 4-0.
Prior to this, defending champion Mark Allen defeated Jack Lisowski 4-2 with three century breaks.
With breaks of 70 and 81, Ding Junhui overcame Ricky Walden 4-3, while Noppon Saengkham defeated Xiao Guodong 4-1 with four breaks of 80, including a 107 in the fourth frame.
