Higgins digs deep to progress at the Crucible

John Higgins offered a hint of weakness to his title rivals before eventually showing his world champion class to clinch an opening-day victory at the Crucible.

The three-time winner, defending his title this year, booked his place in the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship after recovering from 5-3 down to beat Barry Hawkins 10-6.

Higgins had some troubling moments on his way to triumphing 12 months ago, having to win deciding frames against Jamie Cope in round two and Mark Selby in the quarter-finals before defeating Shaun Murphy for the trophy.

When Hawkins edged the morning session it appeared Higgins would again have his work cut out.

But the 34-year-old returned in the evening with greater focus in his mind and more conviction in his cueing, which brought him two century breaks. Hawkins had little to offer in response.

Having pinched the final frame of the first session to trail by only 5-4, Higgins resumed with a break of 63 and followed that with a confidence-boosting 121.

He had the chance to set an early marker for the top break prize but missed the blue and the chance to post a 139.

He took the next frame too, and a break of 67 then extended his advantage to three.

The earlier potting efficiency which had carried Hawkins into his surprise lead was ebbing away, and heading into the mid-session evening interval the 30-year-old Englishman knew his chance of a first Crucible win was going in the same direction.

Hawkins has now made five visits to the World Championship, losing in the first round every time.

He briefly threatened a revival when he pulled back to 8-6, but Higgins then assembled a break of 114 to move within a frame of the last 16, and he made no mistake from that point, showing clear relief as he punched the air after overcoming a tricky opponent.

Higgins will face either six-time former champion Steve Davis or Mark King in the next round, starting next Thursday.

He has no doubt who he would rather take on.

Higgins said: ‘I'd love to play Steve.

‘I hope Steve wins. Mark's a good player but he's just a scrapper.’

Today's nervy performance was one Higgins had half-expected.

Just last week he had spoken of the difficulty of opening the tournament as the defending champion, and the associated pressures.

Hawkins almost took full advantage, and had he won the final frame of the morning session to lead 6-3 there could have been a different outcome.

Higgins said: ‘There were a couple of big turning points and he'll be kicking himself.

‘I was quite happy to be only 5-4 behind because I felt Barry was by far the better player and I just managed to stay in touch.

‘I knew if I could come out tonight and settle down - I was a bag of nerves all day - I would give him a better day and so it proved.

‘I feel that's behind me and I feel better now. I feel I can go on and play better, so let's hope."
Hawkins will hope to return next year for another shot at the first round, hoping to finally break his duck.

Hawkins said: ‘I was pleased with the way I played in the first session but very disappointed with the way I played tonight.

‘Take nothing away from John, he's a great player, but I just didn't put him under enough pressure.

‘When he senses things like that he raises his game and he had a couple of nice centuries.’

Higgins joked he would stay in Sheffield rather than return to Scotland, to guarantee a little peace and quiet.

He said: ‘I've got an apartment (in Sheffield) which I've had for the last four or five years.

‘If I was to go back home I'd have three kids going a little bit crazy, so I think I'm maybe better around here away from the rabble.’

He also paid tribute to John Parrott after the 1991 world champion reaffirmed his intention to retire today.

Higgins said: ‘It's a sad day because he's been one of the greats of the modern game.

‘To play guys like John Parrott, Steve Davis, Jimmy White and then Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan, they're the matches you live to play for. It's a sad day for John.’

Parrott revealed after losing in qualifying that he would be quitting the game and stuck to his guns despite the possibility of being handed a tour wild card for next season.

Masters winner Mark Selby secured a 6-3 lead over 1997 Crucible champion Ken Doherty.

Doherty kissed the theatre floor as he made his entrance, delighted to be back after missing out in qualifying last year.

Although the 40-year-old Dubliner made a strong enough start, Selby made breaks of 103, 106 and 90 to edge 3-2 in front and then pulled clear, finishing the session with a solid 70.

Seven-time winner Stephen Hendry had to settle for a 5-4 lead against Chinese teenager Zhang Anda, despite leading 4-0 at the mid-session interval.

Zhang, 18, beat Parrott in the early stages of the qualifying event, ultimately knocking the 1991 champion out of the top 64 and prompting his decision to quit.

Hendry charged into his commanding lead after breaks of 60 and 73, but runs of 83, 69 and 64 from Zhang helped to narrow the gap.

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen, a semi-finalist last year, opened up an 8-1 lead over qualifier Tom Ford.

The man from Antrim almost finished the session with a 147 maximum break, only to snooker himself on the green and miss out on a £157,000 jackpot.

Joe Perry also looked in good form, opening up a 7-2 lead over Michael Holt.