Ali Carter “flabbergasted” over yellow incident at The Masters
Carter bows out (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images)
Ali Carter admits he was “flabbergasted” to discover he did not make contact with the yellow after a foul decision was reversed during his Quarter-Final win over John Higgins at The Masters.
Leading 4-3, Carter attempted a safety shot on the yellow from one end of the table to the other, missing the object ball completely and prompting referee Desislava Bozhilova to call a foul.
Carter, however, was adamant he did made contact with the yellow and the decision was subsequently reversed, with Carter returning to his seat and Higgins playing the next shot.
Television replays confirmed that Carter had indeed missed the yellow and the foul should have stood, leaving BBC commentator John Virgo incensed, offering: “I don’t care, if the referee says he didn’t hit it, then he didn’t it. [She] should be stronger.”
Carter went on to win the frame before going on to clinch a 6-3 victory to reach the Semi-Finals of The Masters for the first time.
In his post-match press conference, ‘The Captain’ revealed his shock over the miss and insisted he did not deliberately try to gain an advantage.
“If it shows that I haven’t hit that then I’m absolutely flabbergasted because I don’t know what’s happened there,” Carter told BBC radio.
“I was playing it full ball, the white’s going up the table, and it’s turned, I’m absolutely flabbergasted.
“Anyone would tell you that I’d never try and gain an advantage doing that.
“I don’t know whether it made any difference to the frame or not. That’s unbelievable.
“All I can say is I’ve tried to hit that yellow full ball and that’s how far it’s pulled out.
“As far as I was concerned, I hit the yellow, it was four points away.
“If I didn’t think I’d hit it then I wouldn’t say I’d hit it, obviously, it’s just one of those things.
“The table was rolling out all over the place.
“When I played a shot up the table it rolled away, it was pulling all over the place to be honest.”
Carter’s highest break of the match was a 72 in the final frame, underlining the gritty nature of the contest, despite a tournament high break of 140 from Higgins in frame six.
He added: “It was very tough, it was a great match to be involved in, the balls went scrappy, lots of long frames, but I’m delighted to win.”
“I was confident in myself and confident in my game, it wasn’t particularly exciting snooker tonight but I’m delighted to get through.
“I’m in the Semi-Finals so let’s come back Saturday and have another go.”