It has been a long wait, but John Higgins finally banished the memory of last season's 888.com World Championship humbling exit with his opening round win over Michael Holt.

Beaten 10-4 by qualifier Mark Selby 12 months ago, the 1998 title winner was never in any danger of a repeat of that early departure and the Scot replicated the scoreline, only this time in his favour.

Higgins' opponent should have provided a stern test, but, by his own admission, Holt is a notorious bottler and it was once again his suspect temperament that let the Englishman down.

Leading 2-0 during Wednesday's opening session, Holt then won only two of the next 12 frames as Higgins clinched a best-of-25-frames, last-16 meeting against Fergal O'Brien.

The Scot, whose opening-round defeat at the Crucible last year was his first at that stage since 1995, ultimately won at a canter. He conceded just 19 points in the four frames that he added to his overnight 6-3 advantage.

The only disappointment for Higgins, who has not progressed beyond round two since 2004, was a missed opportunity of a maximum 147 break in the ninth frame, when a fluffed penultimate red cost him a possible £147,000 jackpot.

"I had a big twitch on the red," admitted the 31-year-old from Wishaw, before adding: "I was also thinking about the money."

Higgins, with his dreams of finishing the season as world No.1 bolstered considerably, may have replayed the shot numerous times in his head overnight, but it was Holt who seemed to have had a sleepless night before their resumption.

"I saw Michael on the practice table and he looked as though he didn't have much sleep," said No.5 seed Higgins.

"That was understandable, as he threw away a few frames. It looked as though Michael was really struggling. It's terrible to say, but he does have a reputation for giving up, and luckily for me he did it again.

"I have been disappointed with the season but I feel my form was coming back in Ireland and China," added Higgins, who is without a ranking title since his 2005 Grand Prix success.

Holt held his hands up to a fragile mental state and said: "In the first session I had a pink to go 4-2 up but missed it. I lost my composure completely. It was downhill from there. I know I'm a better player but I'm not very good at dealing with losing matches."

For Higgins, the next encounter will almost be a step into the unknown against O'Brien. Their last meeting was the 1999 British Open at Plymouth. Higgins lost and O'Brien went on to claim the only ranking title of his career.

The 35-year-old reached the Crucible quarter-finals in 2000 but his 10-9 first-round success over Barry Hawkins was his first at Sheffield since then.

As Higgins completed his opening win, Shaun Murphy set off on his quest to reach the quarter-finals.

The 2005 champion, responsible for the defeat of wonder boy Judd Trump in his opening game, resumes today with a 5-3 lead over John Parrott.

Murphy captured the first four frames, including a break of 100, before the 1991 champion took the next three. After his triumph over Steve Davis, Parrott will feel the deficit is far from insurmountable.