John Higgins was in exceptional form as he dominated Kyren Wilson in the opening session of their second-round match at the Cazoo World Championship in Sheffield. The Scottish snooker player secured a clean sweep of all eight frames, leaving Wilson in shellshock and needing a miracle comeback to avoid elimination.

Reported to be a four-time world snooker champion, Higgins requires only five extra frames for victory in the second round. This marks his first session whitewash at the Crucible since 2018 when he defeated Jack Lisowski 13-1 before finishing runner-up to Mark Williams.

Despite a somewhat lackluster season, Higgins has shown signs of regaining his form in recent events. He made it to the quarter-finals of the WST Classic before coming to Sheffield, where he easily defeated David Grace 10-3 in the opening round.

Wilson, who made history in the first round by hitting the 13th maximum break at the Crucible, struggled to find his form against Higgins. The Kettering player fell behind early in the match and was unable to make up any ground throughout the session.

Higgins set the tone of the match with total clearances of 136 and 137 in the first two frames. He continued his impressive form with breaks of 57 and 77 to lead 4-0 at the mid-session interval. Wilson had limited chances and only managed to score 70 points in the first four frames.

In the second half of the session, Wilson could have minimized the deficit; however, luck wasn’t on his side, so he could not capitalize. Higgins took full advantage and extended his lead with a steal on the black to win the sixth frame. He finished the session with a flurry of high-scoring breaks, including a 134 and an 80.

The two players will resume their match at 7pm for the second of three scheduled sessions. Wilson faces an uphill battle to avoid defeat, but with his experience, he remains a formidable opponent for the talented Higgins.