The Essex man is now just one win away from his third Welsh final on trot.
He famously won the trophy 2009 against Joe Swail, but could only muster the runners-up medal last year at the expense of John Higgins.I didn't count his chance of making a third straight final too highly before this tournament. He's not been playing his best snooker since losing in the first round of the UK Championship against Mark Joyce.
But back at the business end of a ranking event, he looks like he's back in the groove.
Wins against Barry Hawkins and Peter Ebdon seem to have restored his confidence as he showed both sides of his game in this win against Ding.
It took a little while for this match to get going. Carter scrapped his way into a 2-0, but as the game became more fluid Ding pulled back level. This didn't deter Carter. After the interval, he was just too good. He took his chances in among the balls to score heavily and see out the match.
The difference here was focus. Carter was dead set on the job in hand while Ding at one point seemed more interested in watching Stevens against Higgins across the partition. Even if you can't blame him, it's no surprise he sunk to defeat in this match, losing concentration when his own match hit crunch time.
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