ALI Carter is gearing-up for a crack at snooker's biggest prize.

The Colchester-born potter gets his 888.com World Championship campaign under way on Saturday with a first-round showdown against Barry Hawkins.

And the 28-year-old - who reached the quarter-finals last year - hopes to repeat that form at the sport's most prestigious competition, at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Carter, who grew up in Tiptree but now lives in Chelmsford, told the Gazette: "I'm really looking forward to it and am quietly confident.

"I know I'm capable of doing well but don't want to get ahead of myself and claim I'm going to go there and win.

"My first objective is to get through the first couple of rounds and into a position where I could get to the latter stages.

"But I know that won't be easy.

"Barry (Hawkins) will be a tough opponent and then I could play Shaun Murphy (if the former world champion beats Dave Harold).

"Overall, though, I don't want to think about my opponents too much - I just want to concentrate on my own game."

Carter, who owns Chelmsford Snooker Centre, has been busy competing in recent weeks.

He reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, before going down 5-4 to Ronnie O'Sullivan, and also made the second round of the China Open in Beijing.

In the first round he beat Stuart Bingham 5-3 but then bowed out by the same score to Mark Allen.

Carter faces Hawkins in two sessions, starting on Saturday and finishing on Sunday.