John Higgins will have his work cut out at Sheffield tomorrow if he is to salvage a disappointing season by reaching the last eight of the Embassy World Championship.
World number four Higgins is one of the few leading professionals not to have picked up a trophy this season. In fact, Scotland's number two has not won a ranking event since October 2001.
And that record will extend into next season unless he can break compatriot Graeme Dott's resistance. Celtic fan Higgins laboured badly in snooker's Old Firm meeting against his Rangers-supporting rival, kitted out in blue shirt and blue waistcoat.
And he was glad to finish the opening eight frame session just 5-3 in arrears.
The 1998 world champion faced a much wider deficit when Dott took five of the first six frames. Higgins dropped the opening frame to his opponent's colour clearance and the second to a break of 70. He led 44-0 in frame three but eventually lost it 69-44.
At this stage Dott had already improved on his performance against Higgins at the same stage of the 2002 championship when he lost 13-2. Indeed, he had also lost to Higgins in the last 32 in 2001.
Higgins opened his account on the pink in frame four but Dott moved 4-1 up with a run of 78 and then knocked in a re-spotted black for 5-1. It was to be his last success, though, as Higgins scrapped his way to the next two frames, improving his chances of reaching the last eight for a ninth successive season.
The match resumes tomorrow morning with another eight frames. The duo are playing for a place against David Gray or Welsh qualifier Lee Walker.
Scottish number three Alan McManus's Crucible Theatre jinx shows no sign of ending. The world number 10 reached the semi-finals in 1992 and 1993 but since then has never been beyond the last 16 in 10 attempts.
And, unless there is a dramatic collapse over the remaining 17 frames tomorrow, McManus will have to wait another 12 months to break the curse.
Glaswegian McManus trails Ian McCulloch 7-1 as the left-hander went seven-up after losing the opening frame. McCulloch, among a group of players chasing a place in the top 16 next season, showed his first round win over 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon was no fluke.
"As well as I played against Peter I knew I could play better," said the 2002 British Open runner-up. And he did just that making a break of 106 to draw level at 1-1 and then firing in 113 to lead 5-1.
McCulloch finished the session with an unanswered points sequence of 299 points as McManus missed a series of simple pots. World number 26 McCulloch requires six of tomorrow morning's eight frames to finish the match with a session to spare.
The eventual winner will meet Stephen Hendry or Barry Pinches for a place in the semi-finals. The scoreline will delight one punter who staked £4,000 at evens in a Brighton betting shop that he will beat McManus.
McCulloch was quoted at 50-1 to win the world title before the start of his game against McManus. But those odds have shortened after his outstanding display to 20-1.