Snooker: John Higgins happy with his ‘Ally Pally’ debut

WORLD Champion John Higgins is hopeful he can conquer his nerves at this year’s Masters after getting his campaign off to a winning start over Matthew Stevens.

Despite having won the tournament twice before, the Scot has never consistently excelled in the first televised competition of the year, and his 6-4 first-round defeat by Graeme Dott a year ago was not out of keeping with his overall record at the invitational event.

But Higgins did not struggle yesterday, easing to the win at Alexandra Palace – a venue more associated with darts but now hosting the Masters which has left its traditional home of Wembley after 32 years.

After seeing off the 2000 champion in front of a 1,500 crowd, Higgins admitted to feeling much more at home at ‘Ally Pally’.

“I was a little bit nervous, it’s the first competitive snooker I’ve played since the UK Championships last month,” he told BBC Sport. “I always felt overawed at Wembley. It was such a massive area. I won it twice, but I’ve lost about seven or eight first-round games.

“Here, you’re not as close as the Crucible, but it is an enclosed area and it gets a big thumbs up from me.”

The 36-year-old’s highest break of 90 came in the opening frame, only for Stevens to level despite breaking down on 45 after getting a kick.

Higgins won two scrappy frames to send him into the interval with a 3-1 lead, only for Stevens to win the fifth, posting a 65 after Higgins had rattled the jaws of the middle pocket with a routine pink.

Two moderate breaks of 44 and 30 helped Higgins take the next and, with a two-frame cushion behind him the Scot eased to the win, taking the last two frames, with a 69 in the penultimate one his second most notable contribution of the match.