Beaten Higgins fears for future
SNOOKER: Four-time world champion John Higgins fears he can no longer regularly compete for top honours, following yesterday’s first-round exit to Alan McManus at the Crucible. Higgins, seeded 11th, lost 10-7 to his Scottish compatriot ranked 35th in the world. Higgins, 38, who has won just one ranking tournament in three seasons, said: “I’m maybe not one of the top players challenging for every event. I’m possibly a journeyman top-16 player now. But those journeymen have their day sometimes.” The 2011 runner-up Judd Trump won four frames in a row to build a 6-2 lead over Tom Ford yesterday while Barry Hawkins leads David Gilbert 5-4. Both matches resume at 10am this morning. Ricky Walden reached round two with a 10-7 win over Kyren Wilson, while Marco Fu leads Martin Gould 6-3 and Mark Allen is 5-4 up against Michael Holt.