JOHN HIGGINS broke down in tears live on the BBC after winning an epic tussle with Joe O'Connor.

It came after O'Connor was blasted by Steve Davis for an “unforgivable” error that essentially gifted the win to Higgins.

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The Leicester cueist was trailing Higgo 59-48 in frame 15 with the pink and black left but decided to play on after the Scotsman had fouled from a snooker.

O’Connor, 29, was permitted in the rules to let Higgins hit the next shot but the qualifier showed his inexperience by trying to tackle the pink from a difficult position on the cushion.

Higgins, 49, won that frame and then followed it up with a stunning 114 on his way to a 10-7 victory in round one – he now faces China’s Xiao Guodong on Thursday night.

Davis, the six-time world champion, said: “The thing I cannot understand is why did Joe not put John back in?

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“It’s not a foul and a miss because he needed snookers. John played it with pace. The cue ball goes into a nasty position.

“Joe could have said, ‘you play that shot’. That was strange.

“You stop making the correct decision under pressure with the positional side. That was unforgivable, not to put your opponent back in. He sacrificed the safety exchange.

“John would have been expected to have been put back in.”

There was also a bizarre situation in frame three when Higgins won by 46-45 points despite sinking only three red balls.

Fighting back tears, Higgins told the BBC: “It was the most emotional I have been all day.

“I left my apartment and was in tears. My family situation hasn’t been great.

“I had dinner with my boy. I was thinking that I was here with my dad 25 years ago.

“Things go through your mind. I was drained but after a couple of hours sleep, I played better.

“I feel really good. That was a tough game. I thought Joe played great in the first session. I played better in the evening.”

BBC presenter  was moved to give Higgins a hug during the live broadcast.

Before getting out of her chair to comfort the legendary player, she said: "You did so well, I need to give you a hug."