John Higgins blames Ronnie O'Sullivan and Luca Brecel for snooker 'nightmare'

dropped and in it for nearly costing him a place in the quarter-finals. The Scot came through a decider to defeat Xiao Guodong 13-12, returning for two frames at the end of the night after their tie went on longer than expected earlier in the day.

In the penultimate frame of what was a very tense and nervy contest Higgins got a kick that was to blame for a missed shot, allowing Xiao to return back to the table and send them to a decider. A 'kick' refers to a shot when the contact between the cue and object ball is not perfect. It often occurs due to the balls being unclean as a result of chalk residue or moisture in the air.

However, after a new form of chalk was adopted by the majority of top professionals, 'kicks' have largely been eradicated from the game.

But not every player use the taom chalk that cuts out most of kicks and some, such as O'Sullivan and Brecel, remained tied to the traditional triangle chalk that can be found at snooker and pool tables up and down the country.

And Higgins fired a dig at them for it, after BBC pundit John Parrott lined up a clip of the incident, saying: "We were going to show you a bit of the second to last frame. What about, you got a kick?"

Higgins replied: "Do you know why I got a kick? Because Luca was on previously. Luca doesn't use the (taom chalk)."

Parrott, in disbelief, asked: "Have they not brushed the table?"

Only for Higgins to defend the table-brushers and explain: "They brushed but it's still really messy. So it's difficult when you play guys like Ronnie and Luca and they're using the triangle chalk. It's a bit of a nightmare."

Fortunately for his two fellow world champions, Higgins was able to return in the 25th frame, take it and .

"It was a weird feeling just coming back for one or two frames," Higgins explained to BBC Four after their earlier session ran too long. "When I missed a black earlier this afternoon, I thought the snooker gods would not forgive me.

"The three sessions - I really enjoyed them because it's an unbelievable venue to play in. You play some good minutes, the pressure is on you and the crowd are all getting involved. You can't replicate playing here."

On playing his fellow Class of 92 member Williams once again on the big stage, Higgins added: "It was different maybe 20-odd years ago when we were really big rivals. Now we walk into the practice room and give each other a nod as if to say: 'How are we still here? How are we still here competing?'

"It's incredible [that we are still going], and you throw Ronnie into the mix as well. Three special players, you have got to say that. I don't care if I'm calling myself that a little bit."