Higgins faces test to keep No.5 alive
JOHN HIGGINS faces a battle to keep his hopes of a fifth world title alive as he trails 5-3 against Kurt Maflin in the second round of the World Championship.
The Wizard of Wishaw endured a tricky afternoon against the Norwegian qualifier, who refound some of the form that saw him beat world No.12 David Gilbert in his opening match.
Higgins, ranked No.5 in the world, eased past Matthew Stevens in his first round but struggled for his usual fluency on the Crucible baize, as Maflin made a string of impressive breaks to give the Scot an early shock.
30-time ranking event winner Higgins started the contest strongly, striking a fine opening frame break of 53 to hand him the early advantage.
Maflin replied with a 55 in frame two but that wasn’t enough to prevent Higgins from racing into a 2-0 lead, as he made a fine 69 to put himself in the driving seat. The Scandinavian, making just his second appearance at the Crucible, rallied admirably, however, as he enjoyed a visit of 79 in the third to cut the gap. And he restored parity heading into the mid-session interval after clinching a scrappy fourth.
The Norwegian took the lead for the first time in the match in the fifth frame despite no major breaks of note. And he created daylight between the pair in the sixth as another uninspiring frame put him 4-2 up.
Higgins rolled back the years in style in the seventh, however, but he ended the session poorly as Maflin made 81 to hand him a two-frame overnight lead.
Fellow Scot Stephen Maguire was knocked out by Martin Gould, who caused a major upset with a 10-3 win over the inform Glaswegian.