Snooker: 47-year old veteran shocks all to win English Open!

Snooker's English Open has provided some cracking entertainment over the last few nights, but all good things come to an end. Sunday's best of 17 -final between Mark Williams and Ali Carter had begun earlier in the day, with Welshman Williams coming into the final session with a 5-3 lead.

Sporting a beard that has reminded people of Gandalf, the 51-year old Williams was the oldest ranking finalist on English soil since 1986. His opponent on the night was no spring chicken either, with 47 years of experience to take wisdom from, including 6 ranking titles most recently from the summer of 2024.

Despite the years of experience on display, the evening session started as a real bag of nerves, neither player being able to string a break together. Three consecutive frames rather bizarrely followed the same script: both players missed a bunch of opportunities, but eventually Carter managed to get over the finish line with a break.

Williams' 5-3 lead had turned into a 5-6 deficit, and he needed to wake up fast. A break of 60 to stop the losing streak in the following frame was just what the doctor ordered, but his game had looked off all night.

The following frame was the worst snooker on display all night, with the Welshman first missing a straight-on shot on the black, which was responded to by Carter with a clanger of his own on an easy read. Second opportunities for both players went begging, but eventually it was the Englishman who prevailed again - 6-7 to Carter.

Things didn't get much better in the next frame, but admittedly that was mostly due to the position the balls fell into, making building a break impossible. 16 points to Carter from fouls made by Williams saw the players come into the final red level at 50-50, and once again Carter put his hand in the cookie jar in the form of a long green and profited with a clearance.

The script of the match seemed to be rather clear to everyone, and nothing changed. When the going got tough everything went the way of Carter, and that included a final 15th frame, where two breaks around the 50-point mark settled the match. An elated Carter was finally allowed to celebrate with his home crowd.

- I'm over the moon to get the win over such a class act like Mark Williams. It's a modern miracle how I've come here and won this week. Unbelievable, this game does your head in, Carter told TNT Sports after his unlikely triumph.

- It's a great achievement to come here and pick up a trophy at the age of 47, especially before my home fans, the proud Englishman finished.

So it was Ali Carter who got to lift the Steve Davis trophy, and a winner's prize of 100 000 pounds will surely bring plenty of joy to the man who reached the World Championship finals back in 2008 and 2012. A rise back into the top 16 in the rankings will also mean a lot.

The snooker season continues on the 28th of September, when the Shenzhen Open starts. The tournament that was previously known as the Xi'an Grand Prix will be sporting its new name for the very first time.

Below are the results from the semi-finals and final of the English Open.







Source: TNT Sports