The second day at the 2024 Masters was a great one for the snooker fans. Alexandra Palace was packed and the London crowd is always lively and loud, but fair and appreciative of what they get to watch as well.

In the afternoon, Ronnie and Ding served them an absolute treat of a match. Both played very, very well. Ronnie prevailed by 6-3 but it was Ding who made history, with a fantastic 147 in frame 7. This was only the fourth 147 in the history of the Masters, and, incredibly Ding’s second at the prestigious event. You will find read more about that match here.

In the evening, Ali Carter beat Mark Williams by 6-4 – Report by WST

Ali Carter enjoyed a triumphant return to the MrQ Masters, beating Welshman Mark Williams 6-4 at Alexandra Palace. 

The Captain last appeared in snooker’s biggest invitational event back in 2020, when he benefitted from Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal to earn a place. Carter capitalised by making the final. After a fiercely contested encounter, he was pipped by Stuart Bingham 10-8. 

After four years away from snooker’s biggest invitational event, Carter forced himself back into the world’s top 16 with a brilliant 2023. He landed a first ranking title since 2016 by winning the German Masters and was runner-up at the Wuhan Open.

Defeat sees Williams bow out disappointingly early, having come close to capturing the title in the previous two seasons. Last year he was runner-up after losing a hard fought final with Judd Trump 10-8 and Williams bowed out in 2022 after an epic semi-final with Neil Robertson ended in a 6-5 defeat.

The first four frames this evening were shared, with Carter compiling a crucial 72 to head into the mid-session level at 2-2. 

After the break Williams hammered in a run of 93 to move 3-2 ahead, before back-to-back centuries of 118 and 133 from Carter gave him a 4-3 advantage. 

Williams restored parity in the eighth after Carter spurned a tricky brown to the middle and the Welshman made 86 to level at 4-4. 

With the match reaching the business end, Carter recovered from that miss to make nerveless contributions of 61 and 73 to close out a fine 6-4 victory. Next up he faces either defending champion Judd Trump or Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals.

“I played well and I finished off really well. All parts of my game were good. I potted a lot of tricky balls tonight and that was pleasing.”

Ali Carter

Number 11 Seed

“Walking out I couldn’t even hear what you (Rob Walker) were saying. That is how loud it was. I couldn’t hear ‘the Captain Ali Carter’, it was unbelievable. I had to start walking down the stairs. It was brilliant,” added 44-year-old Carter.

“It was like the Conference Centre. I was lucky enough to play there in 2000 before it got knocked down, that was phenomenal and this is on par and if not better.”

Williams said: “I think it was a pretty good game to be honest. Ali made a lot of good breaks, especially the one to go 5-4 up which was a tremendous break. I missed two or three sitters, but that is what I do at my stage of my career. They creep in.”