Snooker man Ashley Carty eyes more big-name scalps

The Rotherham cue man defeated the former World Championship finalist 4-3 at the recent Gibraltar Open to card the best win of his career.

Although Carty went out to Andrew Higginson 4-2 in the following round, the victory has boosted his self-belief with the China Open and qualifiers for the World Championships just around the corner.

“Beating Barry Hawkins was my best win so far by a mile,” said Carty.

“I won the first frame on a re-spotted black and later on I made a 50 plus break and a 70 plus break to go 3-2 up.

“He pulled it back to 3-3 and I played a bad shot in the decider and got away with it. He missed a pot and the reds were spread quite open and I made another good break which left him needing snookers.

“I held my nerve, I proved to myself that I can do it.”

Carty flies out at the end of this month for the China Open, earning his spot with a  6-3 win over world number 22 Jimmy Robertson in the qualifiers.

Leicester's Ben Woollaston awaits him in his first match in China in the round of 64 and a good showing there will set Ashley up for the World qualifiers at the EIS in Sheffield in early April.

“The China Open and the World Championship are the two biggest ranking events for prizemoney so it is a good opportunity for me,” added Carty, who continues to enjoy support from his sponsors, Rotherham firm Celtic Surveys.