Ronnie O'Sullivan has opted for a self-imposed ban when it comes to discussing his rivals as he prepares to renew his rivalry with Ali Carter.
The pair will face off on Wednesday evening in the Tour Championship quarter-finals - which is their first meeting since O'Sullivan beat his rival to win an eighth Masters crown at Alexandra Palace. In the aftermath of the contest O'Sullivan told Carter to "sort his f***ing life out" and claimed that Carter has "issues".
Carter's victory over Barry Hawkins in the Tour Championship first round means the pair will have the chance to reignite their feud. The Rocket has never been shy in speaking his mind but instead wants to keep a lid on things as he distanced himself from commenting on his opponent in a major u-turn.
He told ITV : “I don’t comment on players now. I’ve learned my lesson and there’s no value in it for me. Every time I say something it’s kind of a bit of a headline, Ronnie says this and that, and if they get interviewed and they say something about me then it becomes a headline of them talking about me.
“I just thought: ‘What am I actually gaining out of this?’ I’m not actually gaining anything other than people getting the chance to say what they feel like they want to say and I am like: ‘You know what, I’m happy with my life, I’m happy with my job and I’m happy with what I do’.
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“I just want to delete all that other stuff so I think that it is best that I don’t comment on any player and just make it a policy, a boundary that I just don’t overstep just for my own piece of mind and my own sanity. I just let the other guys do what they want to do and I wish them all the best, but as far as I’m concerned that’s not something I want to kind of get involved in every again.”
Ronnie O'Sullivan led rip at Ali Carter around the Masters final in January (AFP via Getty Images)Carter has spoken ahead of the clash and appears to have put the feud behind him with the snooker star dishing out praise to O'Sullivan, adamant that he has nothing to lose when the pair come to the table.
"I relish the challenge now because he's the best player to pick up a cue," he said. "To play him in another quarter-final - I've played him in a final this year - I'm in the right place."
"Coming here, all I wanted to do was get as many best-of-19s in the bank as I can. What better match than to play the greatest player of all time? I'm under no pressure, only the pressure I put on myself to perform. But I've put the work in, my preparations are good. We'll see what happens."
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