Quick start pays off for Rotherham’s Ashley Carty in UK Championship

World No 105 Carty headed into Wednesday evening’s contest as a major underdog, having never previously got past Round 1 of the first Triple Crown event of the season, and seen his opponent march to the Northern Ireland Open semi-finals earlier this month.

But a break of 70 helped Carty steal a charge in the contest, and the 25-year-old took two of the next three frames to go into the mid-session interval on top 3-1.

Carter showed his class with a ton in the fifth on his way to levelling the tie at 3-3, but Carty kept his composure to see the game out 6-4, and the Rotherham potter was delighted with how he handled the pressure of playing one of the world’s top stars.

“It was really important I got going early on,” Carty said. “I knew Ali was in good form, so winning those first two frames helped me settle in the match, and gave me a lot of confidence.

“I really enjoyed playing on table two, the table played really nice and I got to grips with it straight away.

“Ali was making mistakes so I knew I just had to bide my time and take my chances. I felt confident I could score and thankfully I did.

“There were a lot of frames that went down to the wire so to cope with that pressure is really pleasing, and overall, I’m really happy with my performance.”

Carty made headlines after qualifying for the World Championships for the first time late last season, and although he was beaten by reigning Masters champion Stuart Bingham, he believes his game has improved as a result of the experience.

Ventures to the third round of the European Masters in September and the second round of the Northern Ireland Open have seen Carty make a solid start to the new campaign, and he is hoping he can enjoy a good run in Milton Keynes, where he will play three-time ranking event winner Ricky Walden next.

He added: “Playing at the Crucible gave me huge confidence to push on and try to take my game to the next level. I’ve been feeling really comfortable this season so far, and I know if I play to my full potential, I’m capable of beating anyone on the day.

“Winning in the first round is absolutely massive, especially for the lower-ranked players, and thankfully I’ve managed to do that.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played Ricky before but he’s obviously been around for years and had lots of success, so it’s going to be a very tough game. Hopefully I can play somewhere near the level I played against Ali, which would give me a good chance.”

*Watch the UK Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport app. Follow all the latest tournament news on Eurosport.co.uk

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