Carter Flies to Welsh Open Title
Allister Carter beat Joe Swail 9-5 to win the Welsh Open crown and with it his first ranking event title.
Joe Swail enjoyed a 5-3 lead after the opening session but barely got a look in tonight, as Allister Carter came out for the evening session all guns blazing.
Swail went in off and Carter stroked in 116 to take the first of the night.
A few minutes later a break of 109 brought the scores level at 5-5 and Swail hadn't potted a ball in the evening session.
Carter pushed on, with breaks of 61, 91 and 67 to stand on the brink of victory at 8-5.
It was too late for Swail. He battled gamely, making 45, before Carter cleared from two reds out, to clinch victory on the black with 39.
"To win my first ranking event is a massive achievement for me" said a delighted Carter.
Earlier Swail opened up a 5-2 lead as Carter struggled to find his form. A break of 89 gave Carter the second frame and he briefly led 2-1 with a 45 clearance.
Swail took the next three with runs of 49, 43 and 40, before Carter stopped the rot with 54 to keep in touch ahead of the evening session.
Carter praised Joe's early form saying "Joe made it really hard for me in the first session. At 5-2 down I just wanted to get out and prepare for tonight."
A rueful Joe Swail pondered "There is hope for the future. This may have to keep me going for another 18 years."
"At 5-2 up I let it slip a bit, but fair play to Ali, he played brilliantly tonight and there wasn't much I could do about it."
Carter grabbed the microphone from BBC Wales Presenter John Evans to dedicate his win to friends and family.
"I want to thank my mum and dad and my great girlfriend, and thanks to all the close people that have helped me along the way and all the people back at the club who support me."
Carter wasn't prepared to reveal how he and coach Terry Griffiths turned his fortunes around. "Those are trade secrets" laughed Carter, "Terry has been great and he's helped me all the way through. I'm so please that as a Champion I can give him some of the credit he deserves."
"I hope this is just the first of many now. It's a monkey off my back to win my first title."
"The experience I gained from the final at the Crucible, and making the Max has been very helpful."
Victory takes Allister Carter up to third in the provisional rankings and he stands proudly at Number One on the One Year list of points earned this season.
