Mark Allen won a match at Alexandra Palace for the first time since he lifted the trophy in 2018, coming from 3-1 down beat John Higgins 6-5 in the opening round of the MrQ Masters.
Fourth seed Allen won four frames in a row to lead 5-3, before being hauled back to 5-5. He had lost three matches 6-5 in the first round of this event since his 2018 triumph, but this time the Pistol came out on top thanks to a delightful break of 86 in the decider.
The 37-year-old Northern Irishman was Player of the Season in 2022/23 and picked up that momentum before Christmas, winning the Champion of Champions and the Shoot Out, so comes into 2024 with a winning mentality and determination to add to his silverware collection. Allen will face Mark Selby or Robert Milkins in the quarter-finals on Friday evening.
Higgins was making an incredible 30th consecutive appearance in this event - a record - and has lifted the trophy twice but has now lost in the first round on 15 occasions - also a record. It is hard to imagine the Masters without the Scottish legend in the field but he could face a battle to remain among the world's top 16 as he currently sits 20th in the provisional end of season rankings.
After sharing the first two frames, Higgins compiled breaks of 83 and 80 to go 3-1 ahead. He led 43-0 in frame five when he missed a mid-range red to a top corner, and that proved a turning point as Allen battled back to take it for 3-2.
The key moment of frame six was Higgins’ miss on the final brown when he trailed 53-54, allowing his opponent to level the match. Again in the seventh Higgins had chances, but a missed long red when he led 45-21 handed Allen the table for a run of 58 to take the lead.
Growing in confidence, Allen compiled the highest break of the match, 123, to go 5-3 up. Higgins then regained the initiative and made 58 and 61 to recover to 5-5. But he had only one half-chance at a red in the decider, missing it from distance. Allen converted an excellent pot to centre and that set up his winning break.
Allen said: "I was edgy all day but then 5-5 was the calmest I felt. I didn't do a lot wrong from 5-3, so I had to regroup mentally and wait for a chance. For most of the match we both missed balls and made mistakes. I went to the practice room at the interval just to get the feel of balls going into pockets. John then had chances in the next two frames, it was important to get back to 3-3.
"This was a big hurdle for me to get over, having lost all of my first round games since I won it. The positive I can take from today is how good I felt in the last frame."
Higgins added: "From 3-1 up I didn't capitalise on my chances. You don't usually get that many chances against Mark. If you don't commit to shots then it comes back to bite you. Every credit to Mark because he potted a great red to the middle in the last frame and showed his bottle."