Spot of bother for Higgins in Sheffield
John Higgins was in early trouble as he began the defence of his title at the Betfred.com World Championship in Sheffield this morning.
The 34-year-old Scot won the opening frame of his first-round clash with England's Barry Hawkins, but then lost the next three before the players went to the mid-session interval.
There was a long way to go though, with the winner needing 10 frames to book a place in the second round.
Higgins took a scrappy opener, but a break of 51 clinched the next for Hawkins who followed up with a run of 69 to edge ahead.
He then stretched his lead to 3-1 on the back of a 51 break to give his illustrious opponent cause for concern.
Hawkins, 30, was hoping to win his first match at the Crucible after losing in the first round on each of his previous four visits.
On the other table, Mark Allen was showing no signs of weariness despite not arriving in Sheffield until 11.30pm last night after a ferry journey from Ireland.
With flights cancelled due to the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland, Allen had to revise his travel plans.
The 24-year-old Irishman looked unaffected though as he led England's Tom Ford 4-0.
It was proving a difficult debut for Ford who lost the opening frame from 59-1 up, after Allen made a gutsy clearance of 66.
Allen then took the next with a 57 break and soon stretched his lead.
Allen looked certain to make it 4-0 but broke down on a break of 51 in the next frame.
Ford was 43 points behind with 43 on the table and forced a re-spot despite missing his first chance to sink the black.
Despite that effort from the Leicester potter, it was Allen who pocketed the black to keep Ford waiting for his first frame on the sport's biggest stage.
