Coventry-born England star James Maddison has heaped praise on Ronnie O’Sullivan following his emphatic win at the MrQ Snooker Masters. O’Sullivan stormed to victory against Ali Carter at Alexandra Palace.

Maddison, 27, from Coventry, was one of thousands in the crowd rooting for O’Sullivan. Fighter Paddy Pimblett was also seen cheering on his good friend at the hugely popular event on Sunday (January 14).

But O’Sullivan reeled off three frames in a row to get back on level terms before Carter made his ninth century of the tournament in the 13th frame, breaking the record set by The Rocket in 2007 and 2009. However, Carter scored just 51 points in the last four frames as O’Sullivan ruthlessly punished any mistake to win back-to-back Triple Crown events for the first time in his career following his victory in the UK Championship in December.

Maddison, who has played for Coventry City FC, was quick to congratulate The Rocket. He said the 48-year-old was on a ‘different level’ after he defeated Ali Carter.

“I do not know how I have won this tournament, to be honest with you. I have just dug deep,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport.

He continued: “I have tried to play with a bit of freedom and then tonight I just thought try to keep Ali honest and if he is going to win it he is going to have to scrape me off the table I just wanted to see if he had it at the end.

“Ali did not play great tonight, he played better this afternoon, but tonight he let me off the hook a few times. He was aggressive today but tonight he did not take on some of the balls I thought he might have and gave me a little bit of breathing space.”

Asked about his chances of winning the World Championship at the Crucible, O’Sullivan said: “I always have a good idea round about February, March whether my game is in good enough shape to win the Worlds. At the moment I would probably say it is not good enough to feel confident of winning.

“I can still win it, but I would like to go there with a bit of confidence with my game. Longer sessions you have to learn to cruise, just win most of your games in second gear, but at the moment I feel like I am having to squeeze everything out just to get a result.”

James Maddison’s school days in Coventry

Maddison went to Caludon Castle School as a youngster. His former PE teacher and close friend Steve Frankish has told us that he was always destined for stardom.

Speaking in an interview with CoventryLive in 2022, Frankish said: “Straight away you just knew he was head and shoulders above everyone else. He was really small and everyone would ask ‘who’s the little lad in the middle?’

“I remember he played in central midfield in a cup final. We won 5-4 and he scored all five. He was always so confident, assured in his own ability and so driven.

“He was happy to take the ball anywhere on the pitch, was always scanning the pitch before he received the ball and when he did get it, was able to manipulate it to where it needed to go.

“It was always evident he was going to be a really talented kid. A lot of kids his age involved with professional academies, as James was, were not allowed to play for their school teams.

“But James always wanted to play for us. He just loved to play and had great enthusiasm for the game.”