Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter will face one another in a mouthwatering Masters remaining on the Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday.
The English duo emerged from their semi-final fixtures on Saturday to maneuver inside one victory of securing the £250,000 prime prize.
O’Sullivan defied a few century breaks from Shaun Murphy to dispatch the 2015 champion with a 6-2 triumph.
The Rocket produced a scientific end to see off the problem of the Magician and attain a 14th profession Masters remaining.
O’Sullivan is already a document seven-time winner of the distinguished invitational however is now on the cusp of matching his UK Championship tally of eight crowns.
Considerably bizarrely, contemplating how prolific he has been at these main tournaments all through his illustrious profession, O’Sullivan has by no means received successive Triple Crown occasions in the identical season.
The 48 year-old, after all, captured the UK title a month in the past in York and might be a heavy favorite to make it a fast double right here.
Success would lengthen his document variety of Triple Crown titles to an unimaginable 23.
Carter, in the meantime, is on the right track to assert a maiden piece of silverware at this stage on the age of 44.
The Captain has been in superb kind for the perfect a part of a yr, ever since claiming a fifth rating title on the German Masters final February.
The world quantity ten underlined his renewed confidence with a dizzying interval of scoring throughout his last-four battle with Mark Allen.
Carter reeled off three century breaks in as many frames, changing into the primary participant in Masters historical past to attain the feat.
The 2020 Masters runner-up has additionally misplaced in two World Championship finals – in 2008 and once more in 2012 when his opponent on each events was Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Certainly, Carter boasts a dreadful head-to-head document in opposition to O’Sullivan, successful solely 3 times from 25 prior battles.
Simply a kind of had any explicit that means, though it was a reasonably memorable affair in Sheffield in the course of the 2018 World Championship.
On that day, Carter beat O’Sullivan 13-9 in a Crucible traditional that’s as a lot remembered for his or her notorious shoulder barge spat as it’s for the precise snooker performed.
The pair has hardly ever seen eye-to-eye, which makes their Masters remaining in opposition to each other all of the extra intriguing.
The sensible cash could be on O’Sullivan asserting his ordinary dominance and racing away to a different clear victory.
However among the many two, Carter has arguably seemed the extra composed this week and has most likely been producing probably the most constant customary total.
Will probably be important for this season’s Wuhan Open finalist to get off to a robust begin.
If O’Sullivan will get on prime within the first session, it will likely be tough to see him squandering this opportunity to amass yet one more prestigious trophy.
Both approach, whereas that includes a few protagonists who share loads of historical past and never at all times in a pleasant method, the 2024 Masters remaining guarantees to be box-office viewing.
2024 Masters
– draw, stay scores, outcomes –
Final 16 (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-5 Kyren Wilson
Mark Williams 4-6 Ali Carter
Mark Selby 6-1 Robert Milkins
Mark Allen 6-5 John Higgins
—
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-3 Ding Junhui
Neil Robertson 3-6 Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy 6-2 Zhang Anda
Luca Brecel 2-6 Jack Lisowski
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Judd Trump 5-6 Ali Carter
Mark Selby 5-6 Mark Allen
—
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-3 Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy 6-3 Jack Lisowski
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Ali Carter 6-3 Mark Allen
—
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-2 Shaun Murphy
Ultimate (bo19)
Match to be performed on Jan 14
Ali Carter vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
(Solar, 1pm and 7pm UTC)
Featured photograph credit score: WST