Snooker: Former champ Higgins crashes out

SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom: Four-time winner John Higgins was knocked out of the World Championship at the Crucible on Monday after a 10-6 defeat at the hands of journeyman professional Mark Davis.

Scotland's Higgins trailed 6-3 overnight and was unable to rescue the match when play resumed on Monday, with the world number 16 from Sussex in southern England advancing to the second round.

Higgins, who won the World Championship in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011, also lost to Davis at the UK Championship in December.

On that occasion, he lost despite producing a maximum 147 break, but this, in contrast, was a flat performance by the Wizard of Wishaw, now aged 37.

Higgins was finished off by a brilliant break of 87 as 40-year-old Davis - known as the Battler from Hastings - reached the second round for the third time in his career. (APP/AFP)