John Higgins 'demon' plays Masters exit role as snooker rival can't bear what he's seeing from legend

John Higgins has left Mark Allen 'sad' after the Wishaw Wizard crashed out of the Masters at the first round.

The Northern Irishman recovered from 3-1 down to beat John Higgins 6-5 and secure a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament at Alexandra Palace, where he will face Mark Selby. Neither star were at their best but it was the Wishaw Wizard who was on the wrong side of fine margins.

Breaks of 83 and 80 had Higgins lead 3-1 at the interval but he missed a chance to open up a three-frame lead. And that allowed to make four successive frames to take control of the game and eventually win the Masters tie. Higgins admitted to the BBC afterwards: "I certainly feel a bit punch drunk after losing. From 3-1 in front I never capitalised. I missed a few terrible balls. I managed to dig in, but Mark produced a great break in the final frame. He's got fantastic bottle and he showed it."

Allen admitted to EuroSport that Higgins' performance was one that left him a little deflated. He said: "He looks like he’s struggling a bit in those closer moments. He just needs to find a bit of belief from somewhere.

“He’s too good to be talking the way he is because he’s one of the all-time greats. Anyone would love to have a career like John. It’s sad seeing him the way he is.”

One of his Higgins' closest allies, former snooker star and pundit Alan McManus, says there's someone sitting on the legend's shoulder taking him down the wrong paths. He added: "Unfortunately, we’ve been seeing quite a bit of it in the last couple of years.

"Unravelling is a strong word, but John’s such a pro and has such honesty with himself. He would probably agree that he did unravel a bit in that match. Those little demons, the demon on his shoulder,