Super sub and comeback kid Ali Carter continues to make most of Shanghai Masters call-up

Winner of this prestigious title in 2010, world number 17 Carter wasn’t meant to be in the 24-player line-up for this year’s Shanghai Masters, having missed the qualification cut by a single place.

However, due to Mark Allen withdrawing from the £825,000 invitational event because of personal/family reasons, Carter was called-up as first reserve. He is making the most of his unexpected opportunity in the Far East.

On Tuesday, Carter began his campaign with a comfortable 6-1 win over amateur wildcard Qiu Lei.

The next day, despite having made a break of 131 in the opening frame, Carter was staring the exit door when he trailed Mark Williams 5-2 in the round of 16.

However, when Williams failed to land on a red whilst 39 points up in frame eight, Carter instigated an incredible 400-point unanswered streak along with runs of 93, 78, 87 and 132 to complete a very impressive 6-5 comeback win.

In the quarter-finals on Thursday against Xiao Guodong, Carter faced the same equation, as Wuhan Open champion Xiao notched up a hat-trick of century breaks - 121, 106, 102 - in establishing a 5-2 lead.

But with his opponent on the hill again, Carter rallied with contributions of 72, 92 and 87 across three frames to force a decider.

There were no big breaks in the 11th and final frame, but it was Carter who came through for his second comeback win in as many days.

Is history repeating itself in Shanghai? In 2020, Carter missed out on a place at the Masters at the Alexandra Palace in London, but due to Ronnie O'Sullivan’s decision not to enter the event, he managed to get an invite.

In the capital city, Carter went all the way to the final where he narrowly lost to Stuart Bingham, 10-8.

There are examples in sport of a super sub capitalising on a late invitation to an event they weren't originally supposed to be in.

This includes snooker; at the 2020 Tour Championship - during the early days of the Covid pandemic - Stephen Maguire got into the eight-player draw after Ding Junhui withdrew because of travel issues.

Maguire defeated Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, and then Mark Allen in the final to lift the trophy and collect £260,000 in prize money when the bonuses he won were added together.

Carter’s memorable journey in Shanghai continues on Friday against Mark Selby in a meeting of former champions of this event. Selby dethroned Judd Trump 6-4 in their quarter-final encounter.

Please visit our 2025 Shanghai Masters tournament information page here for the draw, results, format, match schedule, how to watch details and prize money payouts.