Home favourite Ali Carter delighted a packed Brentwood crowd by reeling off five frames in a row to beat Chinese legend Ding Junhui 6-2 and make the BetVictor English Open final.
Victory sees Carter through to the 15th ranking event final of his career, where he will be gunning for a seventh ranking crown. The Captain’s last triumph came two years ago at the BetVictor Championship League.
Carter started the week placed 25th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, but if he can capture the Steve Davis Trophy and the £100,000 top prize tomorrow he will return to the elite top 16. In the Englishman’s way will be either compatriot Shaun Murphy or Welshman Mark Williams.
Defeat serves as a disappointment for 15-time ranking event winner Ding, but he can take solace from a fine week which included a 6-2 defeat of 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson. The 39-year-old had got his season off to a slow start, having only won three of his seven matches at previous tournaments.
Ding made breaks of 98 and 65 in the first three frames this afternoon to lead 2-1 and had looked good to extend that lead before a missed brown proved to be costly. Carter cleared to head into the mid-session level at 2-2.
When play resumed, 47-year-old Carter took the match by the scruff of the neck to blitz to victory. Breaks of 74, 119, 76 and 77 made it five on the bounce and wrapped up a tremendous triumph.
Carter said: “I felt I was just hanging on in the first four frames, but to get out 2-2 was great as I was always on the back foot. I went out after the interval and played no miss snooker so it was amazing.
“To get in the top 16 at my ripe old age of 47 wouldn’t be too bad would it? There is a lot to play for tomorrow, but I’m going to be in there fighting. Arguably Shaun is one of the best players in the world and Mark Williams is an all-time great. It is going to be really tough but I’m going to savour it.
“It is brilliant to be here. It goes without saying that it is all about the winning, but it has been a good week to get to another final. I’m still competing with the best players in the world and it is a feather in my cap.“
Quite incredibly Ding didn’t score a single point after the MSI … 😳
Three-time World Champion Mark Williams staged an epic fightback to come from 5-1 down and beat Shaun Murphy 6-5 to reach the BetVictor English Open final in Brentwood.
The remarkable victory sees 51-year-old Williams become the oldest ranking finalist in 40 years. Rex Williams was 53 when he made the final of the Grand Prix back in 1986. Tomorrow he will have the opportunity to beat his own record as snooker’s oldest ranking champion, which he set aged 50 at the 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix.
Williams will now face home favourite Ali Carter in tomorrow’s final, with both players bidding to lift the Steve Davis Trophy for the first time. The victor will pick up a top prize of £100,000.
Murphy’s year-long wait for a ranking title is extended. The Magician last lifted silverware at the 2025 British Open and has endured heartbreak since then. He came agonisingly close to lifting snooker’s biggest prize earlier this year at the World Championship, falling just short against Wu Yize in an 18-17 final defeat.
Things looked to be going Murphy’s way when he charged into a 5-1 advantage. Williams showed his steel to stay in the contest with an 82 break in the seventh.
Murphy had a golden opportunity to wrap the win up when leading 5-2, but crucially spurned a black off the spot leading 61-5. Williams stepped in and cleared with 69 to steal on the black and trail 5-3.
After pulling within one frame, Williams again found himself on the verge of a tournament exit when Murphy led 56-0 in the tenth. However, the 26-time ranking event winner summoned a clearance of 65 to force a decider.
The final frame saw Williams, who was competing in his 70th ranking semi-final, once again step to the fore. He made 69 to earn a place in the final, for the 45th time in a ranking event.
Williams said: “I’m not sure how I managed to win. I looked at the scoreboard, saw 5-1 and thought I was out. I stuck in there and made a few good clearances. I got it back to 5-4 and he started to miss a few. It was a great clearance to go 5-5 and an unbelievable break in the decider.
“He missed an easy black at 5-2 and I just thought at least if I could clear up I wasn’t giving it to him. Those matches coming from 5-1 down probably only happen once in a thousand. I just had to stick in and that was the one time it turned round for me.
“It has to be up there with my best comebacks. I was 5-1 down and 60 odd behind on two occasions. I’m over the moon to have a crack at the final now.”
Willo was 3-1 down but it’s not as if he had been outplayed. Not at all. All four frames before the MSI had been close, hard fought frames. Mark Williams temperament and battling qualities are probably second to none. Behind the apparently nonchalant demeanour hides a ruthless warrior. Can he win today? I believe he can. He has all the tenacity and the patience in the world and is more than capable to play the sort of game that could frustrate Ali and push him into taking unduly risks. We shall see.
7 thoughts on “The 2026 English Open – Day 6 – SFs”
Well, we shouldn’t judge before knowing all facts, but we have no right to know them: it is catch 22. I realise that fandom might mean you take it as it comes, but some people are morev curious. I believe most people accept that Ronnie cann
cannot be as good as he used to be because of age. Also if he no longer has the fire, retirement has been invented for that. And yes, he has always been picking and choosing, but it’s a new one (last 3 years) that he entered something and pulled out in the las minute. That is annoying. And I”m sorry, but the tax evading move to a dictatorship simply doesn’t sit well with many. And then we hear he has to pull out of tournaments to avoid the tax man. I suppose one does not have like their favourite as a person to root for him, but criticism
It really just goes to show how awful Ronnie’s attitude is.
Williams is the same age. What does he do? He shows up to every tournament, he tries, he fights, he wins.
There is no doubt in my mind that Ronnie could still be a better player than all 4 semi finalists in this tournament. Yet he chooses to evade taxes in Dubai and show up to the occasional tournament just to play awful and complain and cry.
If I was Ronnie watching Mark’s performance last night I’d feel utterly embarrassed.
Ronnie has always been picking and choosing and yet Ronnie is ahead of John Higgins, Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson in the one year list, meaning he’s gathered more ranking points than them this season. Yes he plays a reduce schedule, but lets have a look at his results so far …
– In the Shanghai Masters he lost to Kyren Wilson who made it to the final
– In the China Open he lost to Noppon Saengkham who made it to the final
– In the Wuhan Open he lost in the semi-finals, to the eventual Champion.
So it’s not like he has lost to some “nobodies”.
He has played in the Wuhan Open qualifiers and booked his place for the main event.
The English Open is actually the first event this season from which he withdrew.
He pulled out of the British Open and the International Championship too, and if it’s simply because of the qualifiers in England, it’s just behaving like a diva. Or maybe he didn’t get the appearance fees he expected.
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we all know who is actually competitive and who isn’t
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But what we don’t know, and have no right to know, is what is behind a possible loss of “fire” in competition. Several players have had lean spells and been open about mental health struggles, long lasting injuries or illnesses affecting themselves or, at times, one of their loved ones. But it’s their private life and some will want keep it private. As I wrote above: we have no right to know. Some have come back from such spells – Ronnie has in the past – and some have not. But whatever it is we shouldn’t judge without knowing all the facts.
Well, we shouldn’t judge before knowing all facts, but we have no right to know them: it is catch 22. I realise that fandom might mean you take it as it comes, but some people are morev curious. I believe most people accept that Ronnie cann
cannot be as good as he used to be because of age. Also if he no longer has the fire, retirement has been invented for that. And yes, he has always been picking and choosing, but it’s a new one (last 3 years) that he entered something and pulled out in the las minute. That is annoying. And I”m sorry, but the tax evading move to a dictatorship simply doesn’t sit well with many. And then we hear he has to pull out of tournaments to avoid the tax man. I suppose one does not have like their favourite as a person to root for him, but criticism
It really just goes to show how awful Ronnie’s attitude is.
Williams is the same age. What does he do? He shows up to every tournament, he tries, he fights, he wins.
There is no doubt in my mind that Ronnie could still be a better player than all 4 semi finalists in this tournament. Yet he chooses to evade taxes in Dubai and show up to the occasional tournament just to play awful and complain and cry.
If I was Ronnie watching Mark’s performance last night I’d feel utterly embarrassed.
Ronnie has always been picking and choosing and yet Ronnie is ahead of John Higgins, Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson in the one year list, meaning he’s gathered more ranking points than them this season. Yes he plays a reduce schedule, but lets have a look at his results so far …
– In the Shanghai Masters he lost to Kyren Wilson who made it to the final
– In the China Open he lost to Noppon Saengkham who made it to the final
– In the Wuhan Open he lost in the semi-finals, to the eventual Champion.
So it’s not like he has lost to some “nobodies”.
He has played in the Wuhan Open qualifiers and booked his place for the main event.
The English Open is actually the first event this season from which he withdrew.
Get some perspective please.
He pulled out of the British Open and the International Championship too, and if it’s simply because of the qualifiers in England, it’s just behaving like a diva. Or maybe he didn’t get the appearance fees he expected.
we all know who is actually competitive and who isn’t
But what we don’t know, and have no right to know, is what is behind a possible loss of “fire” in competition. Several players have had lean spells and been open about mental health struggles, long lasting injuries or illnesses affecting themselves or, at times, one of their loved ones. But it’s their private life and some will want keep it private. As I wrote above: we have no right to know. Some have come back from such spells – Ronnie has in the past – and some have not. But whatever it is we shouldn’t judge without knowing all the facts.