ALI CARTER says he is lucky to be alive after surviving cancer but finds competing at snooker's top table "very difficult" as he copes with Crohn's Disease.

The Chelmsford potter fought off testicular and lung cancer to return to the sport but, after exiting the Betway UK Championship in a 6-2 defeat to John Higgins, he confessed he continues to struggle with his health.

Carter revealed he was suffering with abdominal pain throughout his match at the York Barbican and said: "I have got such a handicap over all the other players, living with this Crohn's Disease that I've got. It's so hard to compete at the top level anyway and when you have got something like that making you feel (bad). It is very difficult.

"You can't settle. I don't feel like my game is a million miles away from doing well but it is such a big handicap against someone like John, who is playing well. If you are not 100 per cent feeling right, which is day to day for me, it's a wonder I can compete at all and make a living.

"It's not an excuse, it's just a handicap. I'd like to not have these problems, of course, but, on the bigger picture, I am lucky to be alive I suppose. It's an ongoing thing."