Stuttering champion Higgins rallies to keep title defence on course

Published on Saturday 17 April 2010 20:11

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 Scot returned in the evening with 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.

Hawkins 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.