May 05, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 28, 1429

SHEFFIELD (England), May 4: Ali Carter will have the Herculean task of trying to stifle red hot favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the World Snooker Championship after edging past Joe Perry here on Saturday.

The 28-year-old set up the clash with O’Sullivan, his former training partner, after surviving a nerve wracking semi-final 17-15 in front of an enthralled crowd at the Crucible.

This second semi-final went down to the wire, in stark contrast to the first which saw O’Sullivan crush seven-time champion Stephen Hendry 17-6 with a session to spare on Friday.

Carter and Perry were deadlocked at 12-12 going into the final evening session with Carter battling back from 15-14 to rattle off three frames in a row to secure his first appearance in the world championship final.

Five years ago Carter was “happy to be alive” after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease which he now has under control, now he faces the toughest test of his playing career.

Carter is already preparing for a life away from the snooker table as he is studying for his commercial pilot’s licence so that one day he can swap 147s for 747s.

But for now all his thoughts are on his first ranking final after a gripping encounter with fellow outsider Perry, who led for much of the third and fourth sessions but was eventually overtaken in the final straight via a three-frame burst.

It was a tribute to both players that there was no sense of anti-climax after the superb display by O’Sullivan in demolishing Hendry in the other semi-final.

There were four centuries and 19 other breaks over 50 in a high-quality game between two players doing themselves justice in what was for both of them the biggest match of their careers.—AFP