Ali Carter says next season’s target is to regain a top-16 place following his exit from the World Snooker Championship in round two on Monday night.

Carter, who was brought up in Tiptree, was firmly up against it with Neil Robertson having carved out an 11-4 overnight lead.

But he has been battling the odds for the last two years off the table and showed typical grit and determination to take the opening frame.

And though the Crucible crowd were firmly behind him, Colchester-born Carter ultimately came up short with Robertson racking up a tournament-high 145 break to get over the line.

But after a successful battle against lung cancer meant he has only competed in three ranking events before arriving in Sheffield, the world number 31 admits he already has an eye on next season’s goals.

“It’s been a tough season, I haven’t had many matches,” said Carter. “So I’m disappointed to lose, but proud of myself for the way I handled it out there and I’ll be back for some more.

“I’m going to work on my game over the summer. Hopefully I won’t have any more health problems.

“The last two seasons I haven’t been able to pick and choose my calendar, I’ve been playing events that I hadn’t really wanted to play in because I had to play catch-up.

“But next season hopefully I can regroup, plan my season, play in tournaments I want to play in and I’m looking forward to getting back into the top 16.”

Carter, twice a beaten finalist in Sheffield, was roared into the arena by a crowd more hopeful than expectant of seeing a fightback.

But after taking the first frame of the evening, he fluffed a chance to really put the pressure on his Australian opponent, eventually succumbing by eight points before Robertson turned on the style.

“He is probably the man to beat now,” added Carter.

“Neil put me under a lot of pressure and I missed two or three balls that I shouldn’t have done and he punished me severely.

“It could have been very different if I’d have nicked those frames, three off my score and three off his makes it a close game.

“But I think he only missed one ball in the whole match and that was the black at 11-5. He’s a great player and looks really up for it, so he will take some beating.”

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