Tour Championship snooker 2023 LIVE – Kyren Wilson faces Ali Carter in last eight after Mark Allen dumped out
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Updated 28/03/2023 at 20:43 GMT
Welcome back to the Tour Championship for day two as Ali Carter faces Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals. On Monday, Mark Allen crashed out to Ding Junhui. The tournament was already wide open with the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson failing to qualify after indifferent seasons. Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy are now the two highest-ranked players left in the draw.
Top 10 shots from Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2022
That's us done for tonight
Join us again tomorrow at 12.30pm BST for Shaun Murphy v Robert Milkins
Kyren Wilson beats Ali Carter 10-4!
That's a fantastic win for the Warrior, who finishes with some trick shots, and he meets Ding Junhui next. He was great in the afternoon and decisive in the evening, while Ali was alright in the afternoon and careless in the evening.
Wilson 9-4 Carter (71-1)
Ding's a lovely player, but Kyren won't mind facing him in the semis, especially over a two-session match. It should be a treat.
Wilson 9-4 Carter (24-1)
But he only gets 14 of them, missing a really difficult blue to the green with the rest. So Ali cues home a fine ball of his own, dead straight, and has to try and parlay a difficult situation into something. He can't, missing a nasty brown with the rest, Kyren then nails yet another tight cut, and will now try to secure f&m. It won't be easy though, as the black is tied up and no other colours are in the top half of the table. As I type that, though, he develops it, pots a brute along the top rail, and looks for all the world to be crafting another fine, crucial run.
Wilson 9-4 Carter (8-0)
Grins as Kyren gets lucky with an escape - genuine and forced respectively - then he rattles in a fine opener to right corner. A snooker , the escape yielding another starter, this time to right-middle, and there are points out there.
Wilson 9-4 Carter
Ali won't be pleased, but he's one frame nearer respectability.
Wilson 9-3 Carter (14-77)
Oh Ali! Ohhhh maaaaate! He misses a simple red to left corner, returns to his seat and buries face in waistcoat. This isn't an easy clear-up, not at all, but the way things have gone you expect him to do it ... except Kyren misses a black, leaving it on the lip, and this'll be the start of the famous comeback.
Wilson 9-3 Carter (5-37)
Ali almost misses a black to left corner - it struggles down, eventually - then slots balls nicely. He won't want to get a proper slapping, he's a pro with pride, so won't be giving this one up. And in the final of this competition last term, Neil Roberston beat John Higgins 10-9 from 9-4 down.
Wilson 9-3 Carter (5-7)
Going in at the interval, Ali looked a beaten man, and he pretty much is. Seven straight is never happening, and as I type that Kyren thunders a terrific starter into left corner. Except he misses the second red, leaves it, and Ali is quickly into the pack. Can he properly capitalise this time?
We go again
Wilson 9-3 Carter
Thast's the mid-sesh and this match is nearly past tense. Ali has given out gifts tonight, and Kyren has accepted them with excellent grace.
Wilson 8-3 Carter (67-1)
Another poor shot from Ali, leaving Kyren a plant to left corner, and knucks it down; Ali concedes.
Wilson 8-3 Carter (66-1)
But wait! Needing just one more red for 9-3, he doesn't come far enough and his route to it is blocked by the black. So it's a safety - not an especially good one - but he's still a strong favourite for the frame.
Wilson 8-3 Carter (60-1)
Kyren probably knows that if Ronnie, Judd or Neil are in the final of a biggun, he'd do very well to beat them, so in their absence this week, he'll know he's a chance. For the third frame in a row, he looks like punishing a huge error with a killer's clearance.
Wilson 8-3 Carter (31-1)
It's just not going for Ali. Forced to take on a pot, he clicks it home nicely, only to be left with nothing but a horrible cut-back green. He can't afford to refuse it so doesn't, misses, and again leaves Kyren the world. This could well be 9-3, and a very long interval.
Wilson 8-3 Carter (16-0)
Kyren cracks a long white, rattling an oblique red into left corner. A black follows, a further red ruffled off the pack in the process, and a poor shot is then redeemed by a thin cut-back black.He can't keep chasing though, missing a pot to left corner ... and getting lucky, leaving nothing. Again, though, he's not playing well here.
Wilson 8-3 Carter
Kyren hasn't played well tonight, but two monstrous clear-ups after two monstrous Ali rickets mean he's close to the finishing line.
Wilson 7-3 Carter (41-51)
Hello! Kyren develops that red off the black, sinks another difficult one to the centre, and very soon it's just the colours left. This could've been 6-5; it looks like being 8-3.
Wilson 7-3 Carter (22-51)
Oh dear. Od, dear me. Ali misses a cut-back red into right-middle, and that's a huge chance gone. But Kyren will need the red on the side rail, so there's plenty work needing doing.
Wilson 7-3 Carter (13-27)
Kyren has to snick in a red ... he does so well ... then goes into the pack off the yellow. He gets lucky knocking a ball over right corner, and if he can follow it with a nasty black along the top rail, he'll be looking good. But he sends it a little wide - it never looked in, that - and here's another chance for Ali to redeem - partially - the catastrophe of the previous frame.
Wilson 7-3 Carter (6-24)
He's doing his best! I keep saying this but he's not played badly today, Kyren was just great early doors. However ... when he goes into the pack off the blue, he misses the apex ball, goes in-off, and has to watch his opponent drift in a nice opener. "Sometimes," says Ken,"the balls don't forget bad shots."
Wilson 7-3 Carter
Kyren obviously leaves the arena, leaving Ali to ruminate, then returns and misses his first go at a pot. But Ali misses his immediately afterwards, leaving a sitter .. and Kyren misses that too! Can Ali rebound from disappointment?
Wilson 7-3 Carter
Yup, Kyren clears up, and what, just a few minutes ago, looked like a burgeoning comeback, now looks like the beginning of the end.
Wilson 6-3 Carter (34-50)
"It's only a matter of controlling the emotions here," says Ken, because all the balls are in decent positions. This looks a lot like 7-4.
Wilson 6-3 Carter (15-50)
...and with just red-colour-red required, he misses forcing one to left corner! If Kyren could steal this, it'd be a massive moment in the match, but if he's going to he'll have to work for it because two of four remaining reds are either side of the black on the top rail. BUT HAVE A LOOK! Ali develops all three balls playing one appalling shot when he could easily have gone in a totally different direction, and if Kyren ponces this, it might be all he can take. Sat in his seas, he is gutted and well he might be - that's genuinely one of the worst shots I've ever seen.
Wilson 6-3 Carter (11-44)
Nice from Ali again, but he'll need a couple of the trickier reds...
Wilson 6-3 Carter (11-23)
If Kyren doesn't improve and soon, he'll find his lead gone. Ali is looking confident at the table, and he'll know his opponent is suddenly struggling.
Wilson 6-3 Carter (11-1)
But he drifts a nice starter into left corner and this is a decent opportunity to play himself in, reds not idea but not awful. He nailed a chance not unlike this this afternoon ... but he misses a simple pink to left-middle, and here's another go for Ali!
Wilson 6-3 Carter (0-1)
Ali goes at two and misses both, then Kyren absolutely butchers one and gets lucky, cutting off the available reds when the ball he misses cannons the black which blocks the route to them. So Kyren shies at a plant knowing he's leaving plenty if he it doesn't go down ... which it doesn't, again he misses by loads. Ali, though, can only add one, after which we're back playing safety. Two huge escapes for Kyren, who's not on it so far this evening.
Wilson 6-3 Carter
Yup, 61 and the frame - Ali's won three of the last four.
Wilson 6-2 Carter (17-54)
Ali's come out swinging here! A poor shot leaves him with a red long to the yellow pocket to keep the run going, he takes it on ... and drains it right in the heart of the pocket. There are two reds close to the side rail, but Ali won't need them if he clears the rest, and he's close to the start he needed.
Wilson 6-2 Carter (17-17)
Careless from Ali, who develops the black but leaves a tight red to left-middle; he gets away with it, then nudges a starter along the top rail and he's on the black! Can he parlay this into something significant?
Wilson 6-2 Carter (17-9)
A poor safety from Kyren leaves Ali a tight red, but he doesn't think he can get to it past the green, so we're back playing safety. Not for long: Kyren goes at oblique one to right corner, misses by a fraction, and Ali takes one then nuzzles in behind the broon.
Wilson 6-2 Carter (17-8)
Just what Ali needs: an error from Kyrizzle to let him in. Just what Ali doesn't need: an overcue that means he feathers the white before drawing back to strike it. Naturally he calls the foul on himself, but he's gutted and must now watch as Kyren accumulates. He'll be relieved, then, that pink and black is out of commission, but if Kyren can dig into the pack he might liberate both. But he fails to get top-side so goes around the table ... and lands on nowt.
Here come our brave boyz
They baize.
Kyren meanwhile
Just needs to keep doing what he was doing. Of course, he just might not play as well as this afternoon, but if he stays calm he'll get more than enough chances to see this out.
What Ali needs to do
He's actually playing pretty well, but he must get off to a decent start and, as Stephen notes, he probably needs some help from Kyren too.
Evening all
We go again...
That's it for the afternoon
Join me again at 6.30pm BST to see who'll meet Ding Junhui in the last four.
Wilson 6-2 Carter
Yup, a red and a green are enough to take Kyren over the line, and he needs just four of tonight's potential 11 frames. He played really well there, but Ali is in nick too, so this isn't did yet.
Wilson 5-2 Carter (67-1)
Lovely stuff. Kyren takes on a pot as a shot to nowt, clumping it into right corner, then nuzzles in behind the yellow and just in front of the bottom rail. Ali is in massive trouble and, in comms, Stephen advocates the age-old skill of the hit-and-hope. Yup, that's what happens, the pink clobbered, six points away, and the frame near-enough dead because there's a pot on.
Wilson 5-2 Carter (60-1)
Kyren builds a nice lead, then knocks the black out of potting range playing a poor shot on the red. I say that! He snicks in the black with the finest of cuts, plays safe presumably still disappointed given the 75 points remaining, but there are two reds on the side so he's in a decent spot.
Wilson 5-2 Carter (22-1)
But have a look! Kyren nervelessly hammers down a starter, sees off that black, eliminates a tricky red, and now he's in prime position - well earned, for taking on a difficult ball with full conviction.
Wilson 5-2 Carter (6-1)
Kyren's barely been at the table the last two frames, so the starter he sinks here, diagonal to left corner, is very fine. It's rare to watch a match in which both players are at it, but we might be here now ... and of course, as I type that, Kyren takes his eye off the pot when trying to free the black, misses, and leaves a chance. And again, the reds are spread ... but Ali misses a black, leaving it on the lip of right corner, and he returns the rest to its lodging with no little venom. So we're back playing safety, tension palpable.
Wilson 5-2 Carter
This time, Ali gets his ton, 131 all told, and the next frame is a stonker. If Kyren wins it, he's a long way clear; if Ali does, the match is properly in the balance. Here we go!
Wilson 5-1 Carter (8-83)
Ali secures the frame with minimum fuss. If he didn't know it before, Kyren knows it now: he's in a match. It's fair to note that the chances have been perfect, reds already broken, but you've still got to sink them.
Wilson 5-1 Carter (8-39)
Ali didn't play badly in losing the first five frames, he just made a few errors that Kyren punished, so it's not shocking to seem him classily compiling. There's no reason not to think this will be 5-2.
Wilson 5-1 Carter (8-6)
Just as Ali knows he's got to win this, Kyren knows that if he does, the lead will be almost insurmountable and the next frame might just follow. So he goes at a long red, drains it, takes on a nasty cit-back black, drains that too ... and after landing on nowt, plays a poor safety. So Ali gets away, and the way the balls are, nicely spread, another one-visit clear-up looks far from out of the question.
Wilson 5-1 Carter
On 91, Ali misses a red, but he won't mind that. If he can take the next two frames too, tonight will be a proper contest.
Wilson 5-0 Carter (0-76)
Ali will feel he's in the match now, and a ton would really get him going.
Wilson 5-0 Carter (0-62)
Ali calmly accumulates, removing easy balls, and a nice cut-back black means he's almost there.
Wilson 5-0 Carter (0-6)
Ali knows he has to take the three remaining frames of the session to have a chance tonight, but his focus has probably shifted somewhat: right now, he won't be thinking about winning 10, he'll be thinking about winning one. And when Kyren botches a safety, leaving the white well up the table with reds everywhere and black and blue available, he's got a chance to get off the mark. If he can't take this, he and we will know he's in deep, deep trouble.
Wilson 5-0 Carter
Yup, Ali escapes a snooker but leaves the final red, Kyren tucks it home, and he's absolutely flying.
Wilson 4-0 Carter (61-31)
Kyren drains the black but misses the red with the rest, his first such error today. He does, though, block the route to it with the black, and when Ali can't pot it, he sighs, huffs and drops his head. If Kyren can keep this up, he'll near-enough finish this game in this session.
Wilson 4-0 Carter (61-31)
Kyren has been absolutely ruthless today; I can barely recall a recovery pot. And Stephen, now in co-comms, notes that the cue-ball control of which he's previously been critical - it's not as good as that of the very top players - has been on-point today. Of course, as I type that, he overruns one, but responds well, and a simple black will leave Ali needing a snooker.
Wilson 4-0 Carter (17-31)
Oh, Ali. He runs out of position, hurriedly plays a frustrated safety, and leaves Kyren a ball over the bag; he drains it, and two felicitous cannons bring him directly onto the black. This is a massive chance for the Warrior to reach the halfway mark, and will absolutely kill his opponent's renewed post-interval vigour.
Wilson 4-0 Carter (0-22)
Ali will be hoping to win three of the four frames left this afternoon; any fewer and he's struggling tonight. He's in first too, a decent red followed by a nice green, and he's soon into the pack, earning a decent result. With the black available to both corners, he knows this is a chance, but a horrible bounce off the side means things have got more difficult, a red sent long to the yellow needed to keep the run going ... and he sinks it nicely.
We go again...
Wilson 4-0 Carter
Kyren sends a lovely red diagonally into the green pocket and that'll be enough for a fourth frame. Ali's in allsorts, and desperately needs a good start after the break just to make tonight not embarrassing. Join me in 15 to see if he can find one.
Wilson 3-0 Carter (66-5)
Kyren bins the easy balls and his pot success is up at 97% - pretty decent for three-and-a-half frames. Yesterday, this looked like the most likely arse-nipper of the quarters, but if we wind up 4-0 at the interval, a blow-out will look on the cards .. and a pink to left corner leaves Ali needing snookers. He's back at the table, though, because the next red bounces off the jaws ... except he can only knock it off them himself and knows, as we do, that a mini-sesh whitewash is in the post.
Wilson 3-0 Carter (19-5)
Ali plays a decent safety ... so Kyren cuts a majestic starter into left corner! He's playing beautifully here and follows it with a green, sharply whipping his rest away so there's no collision, and he's back in the balls - which suddenly look invitingly enough spread.
Wilson 3-0 Carter (0-1)
A slow start to frame four, reds clustered around the black until it winds up on the rail, loads of balls blocking each other. Ali does get in first, but brings the white too far down the table so can only tuck in behind the green, and we may be here some time.
Wilson 3-0 Carter
Ali affects indifference, but he's not at all chuffed. He badly needs the next frame, the last of the mini-sesh.
Wilson 2-0 Carter (47-63)
Down it goes! Ali will be feeling very poorly, because he needed just three pots after the free ball.
Wilson 2-0 Carter (43-63)
Excellent behaviour from Kyren, who rolls in the red the deadest of dead weights, bangs in the black though it's kissing the blue, then removes yellow and green. If he can knock in the brown with the rest, he'll be in decent shape...
Wilson 2-0 Carter (30-63)
Now Ali lays a snooker and Kyren gets so close to escaping, missing the red by fibres, but instead leaves a free ball and that should be 2-1 ... but as I type that, Ali plays a poor positional shot that means a tough pot on that red, and he misses to left corner! If Kyren can pilfer, that will knock him sick.
Wilson 2-0 Carter (30-52)
Ali takes these well, but he'll need the two reds on opposite side rails ... and he doesn't get the chance to get at them, missing to right-middle and dropping head onto table because he knows he's left one of the tricky ones. Down it goes, and can Kyren steal for 3-0? He disturbs that final ball, but only to relocate it onto black cush, so he lays a snooker; Ali escapes and round we go.
Wilson 2-0 Carter (21-8)
Some safety, then Kyren cues beautifully to send a dead straight one into right corner; that's a gorgeous pot, and so, so difficult to play. But have a look! He works hard to liberate the black, then jawses an effort to left corner, and leaves Ali a chance. Can he capitalise? Well, he's into the cluster and on one...
Wilson 2-0 Carter
Kyren is often criticised for his cue-ball control, but when he's in nick it's pretty decent and he not only wins the frame in one visit but with a ton too - setting a decent high-break target of 137. It's worth noting that Ding was 2-0 down against Mark Allen yesterday; the difference, though, is that Kyrizzle has played much much better in compiling that advantage.
Wilson 1-0 Carter (61-0)
"He's taken these particularly well," says Neal of Kyren; he'll be glad to know I concur. already, the next frame looks a biggun for Ali.
Wilson 1-0 Carter (24-0)
It's Kyren in first again, taking on a long red he might've left, and with the balls nicely spread, he should have a decent lead before he sits down. In co-comms, Nealf notes that though he's never going to be a touch-player, he has a very straight cue-action - I guess that's why he's so good with the rest - and what he really really has is a big-game temperament, unimpeachable work-ethic and insane desire.
Wilson 1-0 Carter
Yup, Kyren takes it away and was much the better player there.
Wilson 0-0 Carter (46-12)
A poor safety from Kyren gives Ali a first go at the balls, but they're tricky and he can only manage 12; he then misses a long pot, and we're back playing safety. Not for long: Ali leaves one, Kyren clunks it down, and he's looking in decent nick for someone who's not practised much recently. I'd expect him to secure the frame from here.
Wilson 0-0 Carter (41-0)
Kyren qualified for this competition largely by dint of winning the European Masters then not losing to anyone he should beat thereafter without finding the form to beat the big boys. But he starts well here, sinking a nice starter and liberating reds from the cluster, before missing a cannon that means he's to play safe with a decent lead.
Our boyz baize
Bring it on!
Today's match
Ali comes into this tournament in fine form and fettle. He tells ITV he couldn't be happier having won the German Masters and secured his Crucible seeding - I'm not sure I've seen him play better - but Kyren has the kind of all-round game that works nicely over the stretch. He's had family issues though - his wife and son have been in and out of hospital - so he feels lucky that he's even here competing, and thinks it's important to talk about these things. Bailey, his son, isn't out of the woods yet, and he notes that his wife is holding down the family so he can go and play, and because she's had problems too, that's been a problem. He's not practised as hard as he usually does, but he's delighted to be involved.
The World Championship qualifying draw
We've got the first round in. Ken Doherty is playing Reanne Evans and Stephen Hendry will meet James Cahill. James has beaten Ronnie at the Cruce, so he can play, and Stan Moody, the brilliant 16-year-old, is also in the draw and takes on Andres Petrov.
Hello!
And welcome to the Tour Championship 2023 - day two!
Tour Championship quarter-final schedule
Monday March 27
13:00 and 19:00
- Mark Allen 5-10 Ding Junhui
Tuesday March 28
13:00 and 19:00
- Ali Carter v Kyren Wilson
Wednesday March 29
13:00 and 19:00
- Shaun Murphy v Robert Milkins
Thursday March 30
13:00 and 19:00
- Mark Selby v Ryan Day
Hendry: Allen's form has deserted him at worst part of the season
Stephen Hendry believes Mark Allen’s loss of form has “deserted him at the worst part of the season" after his quarter-final loss to Ding Junhui at the Tour Championship.
Allen arrived at the Tour Championship as the No. 1 seed after being the most impressive player on the circuit for the current season.
But with the World Championship still to come, Allen failed to impress against Ding and registered just three half-centuries in a 10-5 defeat.
Ding hit 10 half-century breaks, converting one to a break of 116, as he punished Allen’s mistakes and often kept his opponent in his seat when he was given a single chance to win a frame.
Speaking on ITV4 after the match-up, seven-time world champion Hendry compared the two players and pointed out Allen’s biggest weakness right now.
Of Ding, he said: “He was by the far the heavier scorer, [but Allen’s] scoring has deserted him at the worst part of the season.
“Ding kept on scoring, 50, 60, all day. Nothing was going right for [Allen].”
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