Ronnie O'Sullivan's World Champs opponent almost quit snooker to become commercial pilot

Ronnie O'Sullivan will be welcomed back to the by on Tuesday - a man who almost quit snooker entirely to become a commercial pilot. fans worldwide have long awaited the return of 'The Rocket', given that the 49-year-old has withdrawn from a whole host of competitions to concentrate on his health and wellbeing as of recent.

And headed into the most prestigious event of the sport's calendar year, O'Sullivan will hope to add to his joint-record haul of seven world titles when he takes on Carter. However, should fate have had other ideas for his opponent, he would be flying planes for a living instead of hitting the baize. That's because the 45-year-old almost ditched the game completely in the early 2000s.

Asked whether he had considered giving up snooker in an interview with , Carter said: "Oh, definitely. I spoke to a good friend of mine, Mike Rowland, who owns the Andrewsfield flying school. I said, 'I've had enough of this snooker lark, defeats hurt big time and I'm just punch drunk with it'.

"'I've just had enough of it and I'll go and do something else. I might train and be a commercial pilot'. He said, 'Mate, you're best on the snooker table, you're still good enough to win, you're still good enough to earn a lot of money'. He told me that I didn't want to be starting at the beginning in an aviation career at my age, there was plenty of time for that.

"I was 43, ranked about 20 in the world and as he said I was only at 40 per cent power. He said to me, 'If you can up it to 70 per cent power, let's see what we can get out of it. You're never going to be 100 per cent with the snooker, down the club eight hours a day, with everything else you've got'."

Reflecting on his love of aircraft in a separate interview, meanwhile, Carter said: "The flying started when we were down to six tournaments after tobacco sponsorship had gone out of the game and I was looking at an alternative career. I got my PPL (private pilot licence), which took a couple of years, and upon realising I could do something else rather than just play snooker, that probably took the pressure off my snooker.

"I then got to the [World Championship] final in 2008, made a 147 [against Peter Ebdon], then my career started happening for me over the next five or six years. I was able to put flying on the backburner and enjoy it as a hobby, and that's what I've done.

"I think it probably has helped my game. I haven't flown much recently. The weather has been atrocious for one and I've been travelling so much. But as soon as the weather turns and I've got time, I'll be down the airfield and getting airborne."

'The Captain' has enjoyed an incredible career on the baize since turning pro in 1996, despite never winning a major title to date. However, Carter has been involved in two World Championship finals - one in 2008 and the other in 2012 - missing out on glory on both occasions to none other than O'Sullivan.

Speaking on his long-time rival - who he has had various ups and downs with over the years - ahead of the match, O'Sullivan told TNT Sports: "It is a tough match. Ali is a really good match player, and usually plays well at the Crucible.

"I took time out because my game was pretty awful, so having more time out was probably not the best idea. It is kind of stacked against me, but I have to start somewhere."