Ali Carter begins his assault on the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship tomorrow with a first-round duel against Gerard Greene.

The Colchester-born potter, who memorably reached the final of last year’s competition at the Crucible in Sheffield, is due to get under way at 7pm.

Carter and Greene will then play the second session of their match at 2.30pm on Sunday.

The 29-year-old, who grew up in Tiptree, goes into the competition in good heart after recently winning his first ranking title, the Welsh Open.

He produced a blistering evening session to beat Joe Swail 9-5 in Newport.

Carter scored a maximum 147 en route to last year’s final before finally running out of steam against Essex rival and eventual winner Ronnie O’Sullivan.