Ali Carter fumes at Saudi snooker ref after 'scorers got it wrong' in defeat
Ali Carter raged at the officials in Saudi Arabia after losing to Luca Brecel in the first round of the new Riyadh Season event.
Carter did not enjoy himself in the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker in the Middle East. He was knocked out in the first round following a 4-1 defeat at the hands of 2023 world champion Brecel.
The world No.8 has gained something of a reputation for having a fiery demeanour, having been caught up in a bitter feud with Ronnie O'Sullivan. The Rocket was nowhere to be seen on Tuesday in Riyadh, but he still found something to get wound up by.
During the fourth frame, Carter became riled by the slow-moving scoreboard in the Global Theatre. The 44-year-old continually looked up at the scoreboard to check and then missed a simple brown. Bizarrely, after being well beaten by Brecel, he then decided to bring up the moment in a spiky post-match interview.
"I'm clearing up, I want to get on with it and the scorer's got the score wrong," he said on Eurosport. "I've stunned [the blue] up the table, thinking I can play anything I want. I look at the scoreboard and now all of a sudden I'm thinking 'Have I miscalculated?' and it has just completely put me out [of] my rhythm.
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"I thought I've got to pot the brown to be able to draw. I don't know how it worked out but I'm looking at the blue and then all of a sudden the ref said I'm on 41 and I'm 22 behind or something, I don't know. It just completely threw me. I wasn't on the yellow right, I wasn't on the green right. The brown...It was just so frustrating. Poor, very poor."
Carter began the match in a bad mood, having been annoyed at the long wait caused by an epic preceding game between Mark Selby and Mark Allen. Carter's match began over two hours behind schedule due to Allen’s 4-3 win dragging on in dramatic circumstances.
Ali Carter has earned a reputation for his spiky interviews (Getty Images)"I got here and I'm four hours waiting to play," Carter added. "Coming a long way and you have to deal with that. It's a great event and it's very raw at the minute. It's such a big opportunity for someone to win such a great event. For everything to go wrong today, right from the off is very frustrating."
By contrast, Brecel was delighted to get over the line and book a semi-final against Allen. "It's always difficult to settle in a new location," Brecel said. "I'm just happy to be in the last round."
The Riyadh Season has tried to make its mark, with players dressing up in traditional robes before matches and a unique ‘Golden ball’ placed on the table. It would allow players to land a 167-break, in the very rare eventuality of a perfect break.
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