I was just a bag of nerves all day says Higgins

Not since Stephen Hendry in 1996 has a champion returned to Sheffield and successfully defended his title.

Higgins has tried twice before, and failed, so he went into Saturday's first-round match with Barry Hawkins hoping it will be third time lucky.

After a poor opening session, Higgins admitted he was lucky to be trailing only 5-4, and the signs were ominous.

A missed red proved costly for Hawkins at 3-1 as he allowed Higgins back in and it was to prove costly.

For after calming his nerves, the 34-year-old champion returned in the evening session to chalk up a 10-6 opening victory in this year's Betfred.com World Championship.

"I was quite happy to be only 5-4 behind because I felt Barry was by far the better player," said Higgins.

"Luckily I just managed to stay in touch. I knew that if I could settle down in the evening session then I would give him a better game and so it proved.

"But I was a bag of nerves all day. In the first session I was all over the place. I've been feeling the nerves for a few days before the tournament, but I knew I was going to feel the pressure because I have the last two times I've come here (Sheffield) to try and defend my title.

"Even at 3-1 down Barry was looking great, but there were a couple of big turning points – he'll be kicking himself."

If Higgins is to break the jinx and successfully defend his crown, he will join an elite group. Only Hendry and Steve Davis have won back-to-back titles since the championship moved to Sheffield in 1977.

Before last year, his Crucible triumphs came in 1998 and 2007. In 1999, he reached the semi-finals before bowing out to Mark Williams, then in 2008 he made a second-round exit to Ryan Day. Another early cut looked on the cards in the early exchanges against Hawkins, but Higgins found his potting form in the evening taking the first four frames with runs of 63, 121 and 67.

A missed brown allowed Hawkins to pinch a frame back but a 114 break helped to secure a victory which guarantees Higgins will start next season as world No 1.

Hawkins was at a loss to explain the sudden turnaround.

"I was pleased the way I played the first session, putting John (Higgins) under as much pressure that I could," said the 30-year-old from Kent.

"I didn't really miss much when I got in (on Saturday morning) but I'm very disappointed the way I performed in the evening. I never put him under any pressure at all. I didn't score well enough and my safety was poor."

Ken Doherty kissed goodbye to the world championship as Mark Selby charged through to the second round.

After failing to qualify 12 months ago, Doherty was so thrilled to clinch his place in the draw this time that when he entered the arena on Saturday he planted a kiss on the theatre floor.

The 40-year-old Dubliner, who was champion at the Crucible in 1997, was more restrained as his match against Selby resumed yesterday afternoon.

He had business to set about after allowing Selby to open up a 6-3 lead in their opening session, but overturning that deficit proved a challenge Doherty could not rise to.

He won just one further frame, the 12th, as Selby showed why he is a serious title contender, taking his chances when they came along.

Leicester's Selby had a chance of a 147 maximum break in the final frame, but missed the 11th black after reaching 81.

Selby landed the Masters title at Wembley in January but in the ranking events he has underperformed this season and is provisionally ranked only 12th for 2010-11.

That position does not do justice to the 26-year-old's talent, and there was good reason why he began his latest Crucible mission as the third favourite, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, the latter his conqueror in a thrilling Sheffield quarter-final last year.

Selby rued his failure to finish off with a maximum, but that was his only regret.

He said: "The money's great if you get it but I was thinking about the history and being on the roll of honour, knowing that you've made a 147 at the Crucible. It would have been a massive achievement."

Selby made five centuries – a Crucible match record – against Higgins last year, but still bowed out in a deciding frame.

Mark Allen completed the formalities against Tom Ford, converting his 8-1 overnight lead into a 10-4 victory despite struggling to focus.

"Was it 10-4 or 10-5?" Allen asked. "I honestly can't remember, as my head had gone. I never felt comfortable in the second session, but I had done enough.

"Normally I get nervous and feed off the nerves, but I was too relaxed, and a bit flat."

Hong Kong's Marco Fu had to settle for a 5-4 lead over Martin Gould after the Englishman won the final two frames.

The 2008 runner-up Ali Carter got the better of a scrappy session to build a 7-2 lead over Jamie Cope.