John Higgins v Joe O’Connor live stream | World Snooker Championship 2025 preview
Higgins begins his 31st successive Crucible campaign on Monday (Cody Froggatt/Sportimage Credit: Sportimage Ltd/Alamy Live News)
John Higgins renews his rivalry with Joe O’Connor when the pair collide in the World Championship first round at The Crucible on Monday.
The four-time World champion faces a tricky opening test in Sheffield in O’Connor, who defeated another four-time Crucible king on debut 12 months ago in Mark Selby.
The two players met in the World Open final at the start of last month, with Higgins prevailing 10-6 to claim his first ranking title in four years.
It marked the start of a timely resurgence for the Wizard, who followed up that success by triumphing at the Tour Championship just a few weeks later – subsequently shooting up to third place in the WST rankings, having dropped out of the top 16 earlier in the season.
The 49-year-old’s participation in this event was in doubt after his father-in-law took ill last week, resulting in his absence from the pre-tournament media day, but he is set to embark on a 31st successive Crucible campaign.
Though it is now 14 years since the most recent of his Sheffield titles – and six since he last reached the final – the Scotsman demonstrated his class 12 months ago, with a memorable 71 clearance from 62-0 down to snatch a 13-12 victory over Mark Allen in the second round.
Higgins was subsequently beaten by eventual champion Kyren Wilson, but has now reached at least the quarter-finals in each of his last three appearances.
O’Connor provides the first obstacle he must overcome.
The Leicester cueist is making his second successive appearance in the final stages of snooker’s blue-riband event, and appears to be hitting form at an ideal time.
His run to the World Open showpiece came after he reached the Welsh Open quarter-finals, and saw him beat the likes of Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter before eventually succumbing to Higgins.
O’Connor built on that momentum during the World Championship qualifying rounds. After beating Iulian Boiko 10-4, he was a 10-7 winner over Jackson Page, who had compiled two 147 breaks against Allan Taylor in the previous round, to seal his Crucible return.
A showdown with Xiao Guodong – this season’s Wuhan Open champion – awaits the winner of this clash in the second round.
The match gets under way at 10am BST with the opening nine frames, before resuming over the best of 19 from 7pm.
How to watch John Higgins v Joe O’Connor live stream
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