Higgins too good for Selby

John Higgins outscored and ultimately outwitted youngster Mark Selby to reach the second round of the Embassy World Championship in Sheffield today.

The fifth seed won 10-5 to secure a meeting with Shaun Murphy having played some of the best snooker seen at the Crucible Theatre in the tournament so far.

There could hardly have been a more impressive start to the match as the 1998 champion opened with a 136 break and Selby immediately responded with a 135, while Higgins claimed a 5-4 lead thanks to a 106.

And today he eclipsed all those contributions by knocking in a 138, the highest break of the tournament so far, before clinching victory in a 42-minute 15th frame his 21-year-old opponent looked to have in the bag.

On the green and needing two snookers, the ’miss’ rule allowed Higgins to induce 11 consecutive fouls from Selby, putting him 13 points ahead without having potted another ball, and it proved the final act.

But despite his trademark break-building having been on song, the ’Wizard of Wishaw’ was not completely happy with his performance.

“I was lucky to be 5-4 up after the first session because I didn’t play great and lost the plot for three or four frames,” said the 29-year-old.

“That’s been the story of my life for four or five years – I have some good patches and some garbage patches. My concentration goes to pot sometimes. But I played some pretty decent stuff today and hung on.”

A visibly downcast Higgins also admitted the tournament was lacking its usual sparkle because of the news that Paul Hunter is suffering from cancer.

“It has affected every player, it’s terrible,” added Higgins. “I haven’t spoken to Paul but I’m sure he knows everyone is behind him. We are all hoping his scan brings some good news.

“I’ll go out and do my best and try to win the tournament but it’s only a game of snooker.”

Earlier, Jimmy White shook off a bout of flu and a Fergal O’Brien revival to win 10-5 and book a second-round clash with Matthew Stevens.

’The Whirlwind’, six times runner-up at the sport’s premier event, led by a flattering 8-1 after the first session and despite being outplayed when the match resumed, he gained the two frames he needed to progress.

“I had been taking tablets for the flu until yesterday and then stopped, and it has come back a bit today. It makes you feel a bit fuzzy,” said the world number 11. “And Fergal played much better today.

“Hopefully I can get rid of this cold and I’ll be looking forward to playing Matthew.”

There would be no more popular outcome than White finally lifting the trophy on his 43rd birthday and he knows he remains good enough to do it.

“I’ve not come to Sheffield to look at the gardens near the hotel,” he added. “If I didn’t think I could win the World Championship I would go and play golf badly in Spain.

“Reaching the semi-finals and losing in the final is no good to me. If I can reproduce my practice form on the match table I’m as good as anyone.”

Seven-time champion Stephen Hendry was expected by many experts to be given a tough test by Australian rising star Neil Robertson but the Scot will have been happy with the outcome of their opening session.

Hendry led 7-2 helped by contributions of 103, 94, 86 and 84, leaving him needing three more frames when the contest resumes tomorrow morning.