Snooker: Carter’s relishing the big stage for Masters match tonight

The Colchester-born player and the world’s other leading players are battling for the trophy and a top prize of £200,000.

Snooker fans have been snapping up tickets and the final at London’s Alexandra Palace sold out weeks in advance.

Demand for tickets on other days – the event started on Sunday – has been so high that extra seats have been added in the arena.

Now Carter is looking forward to joining the snooker party.

He faces Hawkins tonight – with the winner already knowing they face a quarter-final against either Neil Robertson or Robert Milkins.

“It’s such a big event and there’s a lot of prestige attached to it,” said the 35-year-old, who grew up in Tiptree.

“It’s a BBC competition, which we all want to do well in, and there’s always a great atmosphere at Alexandra Palace.

“I really like playing there.

“It’s a great venue for the darts (where the PDC World Darts Championships were recently staged) and snooker seems to be better attended than ever here in the UK.

“There are fewer events here now, with lots abroad, and people seem to turn out in force for the Masters especially, probably keen to do something nice after Christmas.”

The 1,500-seater arena in north London has had nearly 200 extra seats added for the tournament, which finishes with the final on Sunday night.

More tickets were snapped up for this year’s competition than were sold in total at the event last season.

“We’re thrilled to have beaten last year’s ticket total and the atmosphere is magical,” said a spokesman for World Snooker.

Holder Ronnie O’Sullivan gets his Masters campaign under way in today’s first game, against Ricky Walden.

The pair are due to start at 1pm, with the winner facing Marco Fu.

Fu made a maximum break en route to eliminating Basildon’s Stuart Bingham on Sunday night. Three-time Masters champion Mark Selby is already out, having lost 6-5 in a thriller against Shaun Murphy.