Flawless John Higgins blows Kyren Wilson away in first session of second round World Snooker Championship match

John Higgins was in mesmerising form as he built an almost unassailable 8-0 lead over Kyren Wilson during the first session of the World Snooker Championship second round match.

Forty-seven year-old Higgins rolled back the years with some sublime cueing as he knocked in back-to-back century breaks in an electric start. That set the tone for a one-sided morning of snooker, with Higgins producing the best performance of his season to take the next six frames.

Bidding for a 17th quarter-final appearance at the Crucible, Higgins was determined to make an early statement, getting in with a long red and proving clinical with a fantastic clearance of 136 – his 40th century of the season – to ensure the match started with a high standard.

In what can only be described as a devastating display, Higgins raced into a 4-0 lead at the interval, leaving Wilson with a stony-faced expression. He missed out on a century, ending with a credible 77, but there were some pressure shots involved and the Scot – now oozing with confidence – was making it look easy.

Wilson would have been hoping the 15-minute interval break would bring a halt to Higgins’ momentum, and while frame five was a much closer, scrappier affair, it was the four-time champion who eventually emerged victorious to surge into a 5-0 lead.

The Warrior looked favourite to finally get on the board in the sixth frame with a number of confidence-boosting shots only to lose control of the cue ball via the pink as it flew into the bottom left pocket. It was a serious hands-on-head moment and Higgins took full advantage, clearing up to pull off a dramatic, heart-breaking steal.

To move 7-0 up, Higgins methodically moved from pot to pot, despatching simple red and black combos before showing tremendous faith in himself to knock in trickier shots. The spread of balls wasn’t perfect by any means, but he made it work with strong control of his cue ball and a third century of the session earned deserving applause before a 134 clearance had the crowd on their feet.

In the final frame of the session, Higgins punished a poor mistake from his opponent to bite back from a 24-point deficit and clear up to the final red with a break of 80.

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