Higgins suffers shock exit to boost O'Sullivan hopes

A closing break of 87 saw Davis - who is playing the best snooker of his career at the age of 40 - complete a deserved victory over the four-time world champion Higgins, who resumed with a 6-3 deficit and could not find the quality to recover against the man from Hastings.

The victory is not only good news for Davis, but will be of some interest to O'Sullivan in his pursuit of a fifth title.

The bookmakers reacted by installing O'Sullivan as the 3/1 favourite for the tournament ahead of Neil Robertson and Mark Selby.

The defending world champion was seeded to meet Higgins in the quarter-final, but will now face Davis, Stuart Bingham or Sam Baird if he overcomes Ali Carter or Ben Woollaston over the best of 25 frames in the last 16.

O'Sullivan leads 14-1 in his head-to-head meetings with Carter, a figure he has defeated twice in World Championship finals including last May's final.

Higgins cut a desolate figure two years after he overcame Judd Trump to claim his fourth title in Sheffield, but he can have few complaints after failing to hit peak form.

A 92 break saw Higgins close to 6-4 behind only for Davis to pinch the 11th frame on the black after Higgins had broken down on 57.

A 69 helped Higgins win the 12th frame, but Davis headed for the mid-session interval 8-5 clear courtesy of an 81.

Davis moved 9-5 ahead boosted by a 47. Higgins held him up with a 50, but the Wishaw player - who is world number seven - saw his hopes fade when he inadvertently nudged a red in from trying to split the pack of reds from holing the green.

Davis ran in 87 to claim arguably the greatest win of his career.

He continues a fine run of form this season in winning the Six Red World Championship while reaching the last four of the Wuxi Classic, the Australian Open and the UK Championship, where he defeated Higgins 6-5 in the second round.

Mark Davis put in a consummate performance to lead his first-round World Championship match against John Higgins 6-3.

Higgins, who was beaten by Davis in December at the UK Championship, opened the session with a break of 61 to take the first frame and, while the second frame was a little less fluid in terms of potting, the former world champion prevailed 90-27.

Davis, who despite being ranked 16th had to qualify for the tournament courtesy of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s return to action, responded magnificently with breaks of 68 and 85 to draw level at the mid-session interval and he took the first frame after the interval with a break of 69.

Higgins, renowned for his break building abilities, responded with a 51 to level things up at 3-3 but Davis ground out the next frame 81-33 before a break of 96 confirmed the penultimate frame of the session to ensure that he’d have an overnight lead.

Davis then wrapped up the final frame of the session with a break of 64 to take the three-frame advantage his play had merited.

They resume on Monday afternoon.