John Higgins, ever present in the top 16 for a record 29 years, maintained his hopes of keeping that elite status with a hard fought 10-6 win over Jamie Jones in the first round of the Cazoo World Championship.
Higgins first climbed into the top 16 at the end of the 1994/95 season and, incredibly, has been there ever since. But after a lean two years, he could drop out at the end of this Championship. Having knocked out Jones, he must still win one more match to have a chance of keeping his place in the top bracket of the rankings, and the 48-year-old Scot faces a tough test against world number three Mark Allen over 25 frames on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The pair have met five times already this season, Allen winning three of those.
The result means that the record for the most seeds falling in the first round - eight - has been equalled but not beaten.
Leading 5-4 overnight Higgins took the first two frames today to extend his lead to 7-4. In frame 12, he led 39-18 when a routine pink to a centre pocket hit the far jaw, and Jones responded with a 49 clearance to pull one back. Higgins regained control as breaks of 59 and 64 helped make it 9-5. Frame 15 came down to the colours and Higgins, trailing 58-38, missed a long pot on the yellow, which allowed Jones to narrow the gap. Both players had chances in the 16th, but Higgins got the better of an exchange on the last red and cleared to get over the line.
"Jamie still fancied it at 9-5, you could see by his body language," said four-time champion Higgins, who has not landed a ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship. "He probably came into the match feeling he could beat me because he knocked out Neil Robertson in qualifying and he has beaten me a couple of times before. The draws are tough but you just have to roll with it and try to play your best. I felt my game was pretty good tonight.
"I'm really looking forward to playing Mark Allen over 25 frames, I have beaten him twice here before so I'll have to draw on those memories. Mark is a fantastic player and competitor. I'm not thinking about the top 16, I'm just focussed on the next match. Tonight was a great win for me because you don't know how many more times you're going to play here, and it's the the best place ever to play snooker."
Jones said: "From 9-5 I was trying to battle as hard as I could. I could see John was trying a bit too hard and I tried to just stick in there. If it had gone 9-7 then who knows? I enjoyed the occasion, it's always an amazing experience to play here."
On the other table, Judd Trump opened up a 6-2 advantage over Tom Ford as their second round match got underway. The first four frames were shared, then the match turned in the fifth when Ford, on a break of 56 and leading 63-0, missed a straight-forward red to a top corner. Trump snatched the frame with breaks of 30 and 40 and went on to win the next three with top runs of 52 and 69.
World number two Trump is aiming to reach the quarter-finals at the Crucible for the tenth time. The match resumes with eight more frames on Friday from 2.30pm.