Higgins in good form

Higgins was expecting a tough first-round clash with twice runner-up Matthew Stevens and trailed 2-1 early on as Stevens came close to a 147 maximum break.

But the Scot hit back to win six frames in a row to lead 7-2 in the best-of-19 match, and needs just three more in this evening's session to progress to the second round.

Stevens, who has not lost a first-round match in 10 visits to the Crucible, looked set for an explosive start when he potted 14 reds and 14 blacks in the third frame.

The Welshman actually fluked the 14th black while attempting to move the final red from tight on the cushion above the middle pocket, and then narrowly failed to pot the red down the rail.

The 30-year-old therefore missed out on the £147,000 on offer for a maximum, but the break of 112 nevertheless put him 2-1 ahead after he had taken the opening frame with breaks of 46 and 28, Higgins replying in the second with an 88 clearance.

Stevens had several chances to go 3-1 ahead in the final frame before the mid-session interval but failed to capitalise, allowing Higgins to level at 2-2 with runs of 27 and 33.

Whatever Higgins had to drink in the interval clearly worked wonders as the 32-year-old came out firing on all cylinders to win all five frames.

A run of 83 gave him the fifth frame and breaks of 36 and 54 in the next meant Stevens had gone two frames without scoring a single point.

Higgins also took the next 67-42 and breaks of 85 and 60 in the final two of the session gave the two-time winner a commanding lead.