Snooker: 'Ally Pally' like home for Higgins

World champion John Higgins is hopeful he can conquer his nerves at this year's Masters after getting his campaign off to a winning start over Welshman Matthew Stevens yesterday.

Despite having won the tournament twice before, the Scot has never consistently excelled in the first televised competition of the year, but Higgins did not struggle at Alexandra Palace. After a 6-2 win, Higgins said he felt much more at home playing at "Ally Pally". "Here, you're not as close as the Crucible, but it is an enclosed area and it gets a big thumbs up from me," he said.

In last night's action, 2010 world champion Neil Robertson overcome Mark Allen 6-3.