Carter puts friendship on back burner (From Gazette)

Carter puts friendship on back burner

8:53am Thursday 10th January 2008 in Sport By Matt Plummer

ALI Carter will put friendship to one side when he faces Shaun Murphy at the Saga Insurance Masters.

The pair emerged through the junior ranks together and now do battle in the tournament's opening match at Wembley Arena on Sunday.

Looking ahead to the clash, Tiptree's Carter told the Gazette: "Shaun's a great player and I've known him for years.

"He's a thoroughly nice guy and, in terms of our snooker, we grew up together.

"But all that will count for nothing when we're out at the table and, at such a big tournament, it's important to be on song from the very first ball.

"From my point of view, it's a tough start in the competition but, at this level, you're never going to get an easy match."

Honours are even between the duo so far this season, with Carter pipping Murphy 3-2 during the round-robin stage of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix but the Yorkshireman winning 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Malta Cup.