Captain pilots his way to Rocket showdown - 29/09/2011

Ali Carter 3-0 Ding Junhui
82-9 (Carter 30, 44), 120-14(Carter 50, 70), 92-0 (Carter 91)

Essex–based Ali Carter was all business at the Dome as he took full advantage of a lacklustre Ding Junhui to get his PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker debut off to a flying start with a 3-0 win.

Carter who qualified for this year’s Premier League by virtue of winning the Shanghai Masters last season, looked very comfortable in his first ever PLS outing and he now faces Ronnie O’Sullivan in an all-Essex clash.

By contrast, his opponent Ding Junhui looked a shadow of the player who made it through to last week’s final in Motherwell. Carter took the opener with a break of 44 and a run of 70 in the next put him in the driving seat at 2-0.

He looked on course for the £1,000 bonus for top break of the evening, but missed the final black when on 91. It was enough for the win though and a satisfactory debut performance from the ‘Captain’.

“It was ok, I knocked a few in and Ding missed a few. You always look forward to play in front of big crowds and to get the crowds enjoying it,” said Carter.