John Higgins beats Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to reach round two of World Championship

John Higgins saw off the spirited challenge of Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-7 to book his place in the second round of the World Championship at the Crucible.

Higgins, who won the last of his four world titles in 2011, levelled the match at 5-5 on the back of a 75 break in Wednesday morning’s lengthy opening frame which lasted almost half an hour.

Another clearance of 53 was followed by a century as the veteran Scot, an eight-time finalist, took a 7-6 lead into the mid-session interval.

Following the restart, Un-Nooh recovered to stay in touch at 8-7, but Higgins eventually edged a nervy 16th frame 58-40 to move within one of victory, which he secured with another classy half-century clearance.

Higgins, 46, will next face either Belgium’s Luca Brecel or Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham in the last 16.

On the other table, Kyren Wilson recovered from 3-0 down against Ding Junhui to trail 5-4 after the first session.

Ding had opened up a 3-0 lead after breaks of 64 and 110 before Wilson, runner-up in 2020, responded with a century clearance himself to take a frame back before the interval.

Wilson, the tournament’s fifth seed, continued his fightback to level the match after a break of 95 in the sixth frame, only for 2016 runner-up Ding to produce clearances of 54 and 82 to lead by two.

After Wilson missed a sixth black when on course for a possible 147 in the ninth frame, both men played strong safety games before the Englishman edged it 75-35, with the match set to conclude on Wednesday evening.