SNOOKER star Ali Carter has revealed he cannot remember reaching World Snooker Championship finals after a number of health battles.
The Captain, 47, has six ranking title wins in his career and got to two Crucible finals in 2008 and 2012.
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He lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan on both occasions and was later diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Carter was initially given the all-clear before being told the cancer had spread to his lungs.
He made a full recovery after gruelling chemotherapy treatment, having also suffered with Crohn’s disease for much of his life.
And Carter said his ill health had led to memory loss which meant he couldn’t recall either of his Sheffield finals or his famous 147 in 2008.
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He told TNT Sports: “As a youngster I had Crohn’s really bad.
“Three bowel resections and then obviously I got ill with my cancer and that spread into my lung and there was a moment I thought I might not be around, which it’s affected me in a big way.
“It’s affected my memory. I can’t even remember getting to big finals in the World Championships, the maximum that I made.
“And that is pure trauma. My brain has shut off that part of my life because it was so traumatic. I’ve got a good memory, it’s just very short.
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“I’ve been up against it but it’s what’s made me the person I am today.
“Like me or hate me, I am who I am and what I am and I say how I feel. If that doesn’t suit everyone then sorry.”
Carter admitted he could sometimes give people the wrong impression after picking up a “grumpy” reputation.
He added: “Generally the people that don’t like me have never met me.
“I might come across like a grumpy old git on the tele but I have got a happy side, somewhere.”
He previously told of how he was “absolutely mullered” and “wiped out” by chemo.
He told the Daily Mail in 2014: “‘You are in hospital from nine in the morning until half past five or six in the evening, lying down on a drip, two hours chemo, an hour fluids, another hour chemo, two hours fluids.
“After that you are absolutely mullered. You are wiped out for three or four days afterwards.
“The side effects were bad: tiredness, feeling sick. My finger tips were really sore, it is hard to eat anything because your mouth feels as if someone has got sandpaper and gone right round it, your head feels as if it is buzzing.
“It even affects your libido. It wipes you out. I have told friends I am not sure I could go through it again.”
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Carter deserves immense credit for returning to snooker following his battle with cancer – winning the 2014 General Cup not long after his diagnosis.
And on Sunday evening he is playing the English open final against Mark Williams.