Snooker whizz-kid Stan Moody reveals upcoming targets after latest big win in China: "I'm on my way"

The recently turned 19-year-old appeared to be cruising to victory against the world number 18 as breaks of 69 and 87 helped him establish a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval.

On resumption, though, six-time ranking event winner Carter battled back, taking frames five and six before an effort of 111 got him to within one of his opponent.

However, Moody resisted the rally, and with the aid of a 51 he managed to get the job done and advance in the £850,000 world ranking event.

The youngster will face former world champion Stuart Bingham in round three on Thursday in the Far East.

It is the second consecutive tournament that Moody has defeated Carter. At the British Open in Cheltenham only a couple of weeks ago he produced a steely break in the deciding frame to oust the two-time Crucible finalist 4-3 in the last 16.

Moody and Carter are due to meet yet again later this month at the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast.

English junior snooker champion at several different age levels, there was lots of hype and excitement when Moody earned his professional tour card at the start of 2023 when he won the World Snooker Federation Junior Championship in Sydney, Australia. The player he denied in that final - compatriot Liam Pullen - is also in the last 32 in Xi'an this week.

After a difficult rookie season - to be understood for someone so young on the sport's unforgiving top flight - Moody's game has gone up several levels over the past 12 months or so.

Last season he showed real consistency, reaching the last 16 of two ranking events, and the last 32 of another two. He was also just one frame away from qualifying for the televised stages of the UK Championship.

Collecting nearly £75,000 in prize money from that term alone, though, Moody's main priority was achieved as he finished the campaign inside the world's top 64 rankings, thus maintaining his professional status - a brilliant feat.

And this season the Yorkshire cueist has kicked on again, breaking new personal ground by reaching his first ranking event quarter-final at the Wuhan Open, and then making his second just a few weeks later at the British Open.

Not only is Moody featuring in the business end of competitions, but he is becoming comfortable on the big stage against star name peers.

In Wuhan, he eliminated national hero Ding Junhui on a TV table, and went on to whitewash top 16 exponent Barry Hawkins 5-0 in the last 16. In Cheltenham he saw off world number two Kyren Wilson on the main TV table, and now has back-to-back wins over the very experienced Carter.

Moody’s goals and comparison to darts star Luke Littler

Speaking to the World Snooker Tour shortly after his latest win, Moody was pleased to hold on against such a dangerous opponent. "Yeah, very happy. Played well before the interval to go 4-0 up, but Ali's a class player and he come back well, and I'm just happy that I held my nerve in the end to win".

For several years now, British snooker has yearned for a young talent to break through the ranks and challenge for honours on the World Snooker Tour. The media back home have jumped on Moody's recent progress, labelling him as snooker's equivalent to Luke Littler - the darts wonderkid who won the World Championship as a record-breaking 17-year-old earlier this year.

Such comparisons don't seem fair on either of those two particular stars, but Moody is aware of the headlines and has plans for the coming weeks and months to emulate his fellow prodigy: "I've got a long way to go to be the Luke Littler of snooker, but I'm on my way” Moody said.

"I want to be top 32 by the end of the season, go deeper in tournaments, and I'm doing alright.”

Moody has just broken into the world’s top 50 rankings for the first time, and on the latest provisional end-of-season projections he is inside the top 40, so getting into the 32 isn’t fanciful at all.

Last week, 1997 World Snooker Champion Ken Doherty, who created a shock result by defeating Moody in International Championship qualifying, praised his young opponent on social media afterwards, saying that he is “sure” that Moody will become a world champion one day.

But in the here and now, in terms of his aims for the week in Xi’an, Moody told WST that he was there “to win it”.

Visit our 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix tournament information centre here for details on the draw, results, prize money, schedule and how to watch.