At the end of a day in which he reflected on three decades of competing at the Crucible and memories of his late father, all-time legend John Higgins switched his focus to the table and battled to a 10-7 victory over Joe O'Connor to reach the last 16 of the Halo World Championship.
It has been a tough time for the Higgins family as wife Denise's father suffered a heart attack last Tuesday, though thankfully he is now recovering at home. After tonight's match Higgins, who made his Crucible debut in 1995, said: "Today was the most emotional I have ever felt, going out to play, given everything over the last few days.
"There was a moment last night when I was sitting with my boy (second son Oliver), he's going down to London studying for a few months. It brought so many memories back, when I was sitting with my dad 20 years ago. This morning on my way over I was in tears, thinking about different things. I was totally drained. To get out (of the first session) 5-4 was a result because Joe was playing brilliant. I got back to my apartment and crawled into bed, and slept for two hours which was the best sleep I have had in years. Tonight I felt so much better."
Having passed today's test, Higgins will hope for a steady nerve over the coming fortnight as he chases a fifth Crucible crown. Over the past two months he has shown vintage form, beating O'Connor in the final of the World Open and Mark Selby in the final of the Tour Championship, so his game could hardly be in better shape. Set to turn 50 in just four weeks, the Scot retains a burning ambition to win the biggest titles. Through to the second round in Sheffield for the 11th year in a row and 27th time overall, he will meet Xiao Guodong over 25 frames on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Higgins trailed 5-4 going into this evening's session but dominated the first three frames with a top break of 101 to go 7-5 ahead. O'Connor pulled one back, then came from 37-0 down to take frame 14 for 7-7. The 15th lasted 37 minutes and came down to the colours, Higgins potting green, brown and blue to go 17 points ahead. O'Connor got the snooker he needed on the pink, but was then trapped in a snooker himself and escaped but left Higgins a straight-forward pink to a baulk corner to regain the lead.
That proved the key moment as world number three Higgins compiled breaks of 114 and 59 to win the last two frames.
"I will give it everything, which I have always done every year," Higgins added. "Tonight there were a few shots where I had a bit more inner belief and steel because I have won a couple of tournaments. In the last few years here at pressure moments I was faltering, but I stood up well tonight."
On the other table, Si Jiahui forged a 6-3 overnight lead over last year's semi-finalist David Gilbert. China's Si reached the last four on his debut here two years ago and also made the second round last year. The first six frames tonight were shared before Si won a close seventh on the colours, then added the next two with breaks of 97 and 73. They resume on Tuesday at 7pm.