Ali Carter set to return to snooker after cancer battle
Last Updated: 04/09/14 10:45pm
Ali Carter has given a positive update on his health as he prepares to return to competitive snooker.
The two-time World Championship runner-up has been out of action since May, when he began an intensive course of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
The 35-year-old admits he is "not quite out of the woods" but he believes his condition is good enough for him to play in the Players Tour Championship event in Bulgaria, which runs from October 3-5.
Carter fought off testicular cancer last year and also suffers with Crohn's disease, and he believes just returning to the professional circuit is an achievement regardless of how he performs.
"This has opened my eyes a little bit because winning is not the most important thing to me now," he told the BBC.
"I feel it has taken the pressure off my shoulders having faced what I have faced and beaten what I have beaten. I have really got nothing to be afraid of any more.
"Of course I want to win tournaments, but really what difference does it make? I was not thinking about tournaments I had won in hospital.
"I would have had it taken away from me to have my health back.
"While I can hang on to that feeling I think there are some big things to come for me in sport."
Carter has yet to receive the all-clear from his doctors, but he remains optimistic over his prognosis.
"I have had positive results," he added. "I am not quite out of the woods yet but I am nearly there, I have one last procedure on September 11 and then hopefully it will be job done.
"I am nearly out the other side. It will be emotional for me to turn up at the Masters and the World Championships and that is what I have to look forward to."