Carter crowned Shanghai king

Snooker won't have many madder weeks than the one just gone by.

It started with the 2009 Shanghai Masters winner Ronnie O'Sullivan pulling out the competition ahead of his title defence.

In the middle, we had John Higgins' tribunal, where he was found not guilty of match fixing.

Then, on the actual baize, the form book went out of the window with many of the game's top players leaving Asia much sooner than they would have hoped. And no-one would have put money on Jamie Burnett reaching the first ranking event final of his 18-year professional career.

While all this was going on though, Ali Carter pulled out a kind of 'Classic Carter' display this week to capture his second ranking title win, and continue his climb to the precipice of the sport.

The Essex cueman is probably the most under-rated player within the top eight rankings right now. No-one ever raves about him and he's become known as one of the game's best grafters. But that doesn't really do his talent the justice it deserves.

As well as his tenacity, it's because of his very balanced game that he's ghosted so high up the rankings in recent seasons.

He's always been capable of knocking in competitive breaks, because he's such a sweet striker of the cue ball.

But ever since the 2008 world championship, where he made it through to the final, he seems to have acquired a tougher, more resilient streak. And it's no coincidence that since then he's become a much tougher cookie to break down, which has translated to his rise up the rankings.

He can battle, and he does this a lot more often now. But this added ability has somewhat overshadowed the fact that when he's playing well, he's actually very easy on the eye.

Saying this, I don't consider Carter the kind of player who's going to suddenly blow everyone away, win four ranking events in a season, and become the next world number one. His game is more based on his steady approach, and excellent shot selection. He's acquired an excllent discipline between taking shots on, and playing safe. This is a winning formula in anyone's book.

While I'm wary not to sell him short, the fact that he wasn't many people's tip for the title this week, suggest he's definitely under-rated but also that he's not a player feared on the circuit. People don't like playing him because he's hard to beat, not because he's unplayable in full flow.

He played terrifically well all week. You don't beat players like Mark Selby unless you're on the top of your game. He sure was that.

But he'll also admit himself that he profited from other player's being off colour. Avoiding the likes of Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and Neil Robertson was a blessing. No disrespect to Burnett, but he could have been handed many tougher finals.

They say you can only beat what's in front of you. He achieved that and deserves his success. It's reward for his great consistency.

He was presented with a golden chance to winning a ranking event this week, and he grabbed it with both hands.

Well played Ali!