Ali Carter has said he wants nothing to do with Ronnie O'Sullivan, despite the pair having been friends early in their careers. The two used to train together at Witham Snooker Bowl.
Carter credits O'Sullivan for helping him win a championship, but claims their friendship then went downhill. The duo have faced each other 29 times in their careers, with O'Sullivan winning 25, though some of those matches have not been without incident.
Early friendship and falling out
Speaking on the Talking Snooker podcast, Carter said: "Me and Ronnie, we used to practise together, as a 17-year-old at Witham Snooker Bowl. We played every single day.
"That was what led up to winning the Benson & Hedges Championship in 1999. That was a big tournament then and if it wasn't for him getting me prepped up, I probably would never have won that tournament."
Despite that early friendship, Carter outlined how things changed. "So, after spending a lot of time with Ronnie, and he probably knew at the time how good I was, I just felt that when we went to tournaments, he wasn't really the same toward me," he said.
"Looking back, I probably took it personally. I think he's like that with everyone, it wasn't just me. But I'm not everyone, am I?
"I can only speak from my own perspective. So, I just thought, well, if he can't be bothered to talk to me, then I can't be bothered to talk to him. That's fine. We both know where we stand then."
Incidents and apologies
There was, however, an incident during the 2018 World Championships in Sheffield in which the two appeared to shoulder-barge during their match. Carter remembers an apology from O'Sullivan over the incident, but then recalled how their relationship soured again.
He said: "We were at the Novotel in York, and he was with Damien Hirst and all his cronies, and I was having breakfast. Ronnie came over to me, he said, 'Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened in Sheffield'.
"Then lockdown happened and all the tournaments were in Milton Keynes, so I played Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals of the [2020] Northern Ireland Open at Milton Keynes.
"I'd done an interview with Alan McManus before and he said, 'It's always a needle match between you and Ronnie.' I said, 'No, not at all. He came up to me in the Novotel in York and he apologised and I apologised. It's all water under the bridge.'
"So, anyway, he beat me, then the next tournament, I've come out of the tournament office. He must have seen my interview and he's gone, 'I never apologised to you. That was your fault.'
"I said, 'What? So I just made it up then, did I? That you come up to me in York and apologised?' He went, 'Yeah, you did,' and then had a little laugh, and that was that.
"You can't comprehend what's just happened. Is he getting me at it or what? And I just thought, right, okay, he wants to say that, whatever. The only way I can take myself out of that situation is just have nothing to do with it anymore, not speak to him. It's pointless."
Current relationship
Reflecting on their current relationship, Carter added: "I mean, me and Ronnie…we're not fine, [but] there's nothing. There's no relationship there, there's no hate, there's no nothing."
The most recent meeting between the two was in January this year, in the last 32 of the German Masters. That match saw Carter come out as 5-3 winner.
