Dafabet Masters: Ali Carter beats Shaun Murphy to reach final

Carter only made the field for snooker's most exclusive event when Ronnie O'Sullivan opted not to play, meaning the man ranked 17 in world - a player with whom O'Sullivan does not see eye to eye - was called up as first reserve.

The Essex potter has taken full advantage, adding Shaun Murphy to Mark Selby and John Higgins as he completed a sweep of former world champions to set up an opportunity to seal the biggest victory of his career.

Murphy had been favourite for both the match and the tournament heading into Saturday's semi-final, but despite bagging two centuries he was ultimately beaten by his opportunistic opponent.

Carter had a little luck on his side - particularly in frame eight, when an outrageous fluke helped restore his two-frame lead - but to his credit, the 40-year-old gobbled up his opportunity to close out the match in frame nine with a flawless break of 97.

He’ll face Stuart Bingham on Sunday, after the former world champion thumped Masters debutant David Gilbert 6-2.

Carter made another measured start, breaks of 55 and 91 earning him a 2-0 lead before some Murphy magic in a break of 105 saw that advantage cut in two.

Crucially, Carter edged back ahead heading into the interval, before a 110 break from Murphy again hinted that he had plenty more to offer.

After the next two frames were shared, Carter established a 30-point lead in frame eight, but with 35 points left on the table and Murphy having put him in a tricky snooker, there was work still to be done.

And then came perhaps the decisive moment, Carter extricating himself from the predicament impressively but no doubt hugely fortunate to see the deflected red roll, on its last legs, into the corner pocket.

From there, he was able to dictate terms and win the frame, before wrapping up the victory with a 97 break which ought to have been a century only for him to over-cut the final black.

"Snooker players are never happy - the story's not written yet," said Carter.

"I've been working hard in practice, got a couple of people who are really helping me at the moment.

"When you come here you think you're on a free roll, when you're out there it hits you straight in the face.

"Now I think it's mine to lose. That's the competitive instinct that as snooker players we've all got."

Murphy was of course magnanimous in defeat, praising his opponent for a job well done while looking ahead to the remainder of the season.

"Didn't feel like I did a great deal wrong," said Murphy. "That's the nature of the game, there's nothing you can do about it. We rock on to the next tournament.

"Some big tournaments to come, all of those events which I wasn't in this year.

"I thought the way he finished the game off there was quite special - it's not easy out there you know. Very classily done, and I wish him all the best in the final."

The evening semi-final failed to deliver much in the way of drama as Bingham dominated against Gilbert, who was way below the standards set in his first two matches at Ally Pally.

Bingham raced into a 2-0 lead and that became 3-0 after Gilbert rattled the jaws with a crucial brown towards the end of the third frame, leaving his opponent with a simple task.

Gilbert bagged another century - his fourth of the tournament - to avoid a pre-interval whitewash, but Ball Run combined run of the ball with heavy scoring and his experience edge to wrap up the match in just under three hours.

Tournament schedule and round-by-round results

• All matches up to and including semi-finals best of 11; final best of 19

ROUND ONE

Sunday 12 January
Afternoon Session (1300 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Ding Junhui 3-6 Joe Perry

Evening Session (1900 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Mark Selby 4-6 Ali Carter

Monday 13 January
Afternoon Session (1300 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Neil Robertson 5-6 Stephen Maguire

Evening Session (1900 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Mark Allen 1-6 David Gilbert

Tuesday 14 January
Afternoon Session (1300 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Judd Trump 3-6 Shaun Murphy

Evening Session (1900 - BBC/Eurosport)

• John Higgins 6-1 Barry Hawkins

Wednesday 15 January
Afternoon Session (1300 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Kyren Wilson 6-2 Jack Lisowski

Evening Session (1900 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Mark Williams 2-6 Stuart Bingham

Thursday 16 January
Afternoon Session (1300 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Shaun Murphy 6-3 Joe Perry

Evening Session (1900 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Ali Carter 6-3 John Higgins

Friday 17 January
Afternoon Session (1300 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Stephen Maguire 2-6 David Gilbert

Evening Session (1900 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Kyren Wilson 4-6 Stuart Bingham

Saturday 18 January
Afternoon Session (1300 - BBC/Eurosport)

• Shaun Murphy 3-6 Ali Carter

Evening Session (1900 - BBC/Eurosport)

• David Gilbert 2-6 Stuart Bingham