Ronnie O’Sullivan has hit out at the state of Alexandra Palace, describing the Masters snooker venue as “disgusting”.
The seven-time Masters winner said: “I just don’t like this place. I find it disgusting. It’s dirty everywhere. It is cold. It freezes. I have to wear my coat everywhere. You drive through parking lots. There are trash cans. Honestly, it just makes me sick.
“I’m a bit of a clean freak and when I come in here I get goosebumps. I can’t wait to get out of here.”
The 48-year-old spoke about reaching the quarter-finals of the competition after his 6-3 win over Barry Hawkins on Thursday. His negative assessment of the 19th century Ally Pally, as it is affectionately known, mirrors the one he gave in 2018 about the Crawley K2 Leisure Center where he complained about the stench of urine.
Following these recent comments, the World Snooker Tour responded that “other players have unanimously spoken positively about the venue,” which has hosted the Masters since 2012.
In Friday’s game, defending champion Judd Trump was eliminated by Ali Carter after a thrilling quarter-final that went down to the wire.
Carter lost 5-4 and faced elimination in the 10th frame, only for his opponent to beat the match point red, allowing the 44-year-old to take his chance and hit a 43 to make it in to bring the decision.
Buoyed by this momentum, a break of 64 then saw Carter, who had been leading 4-2, only for Trump to hit back with a break of 129 en route to winning three frames in a row until his first second Masters semifinal in 13 attempts.
“For all that money, it looked like I was leading 5-3, and I lost it for a few frames,” Carter said in his postgame interview.
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“I felt like I worked really hard but I was delighted to score an incredible free-kick to force the decisive point. I don’t know how I held myself together there – that’s a weak point for me.”
