On April 20, Beijing time, the first round of the Snooker World Championships continued, and Higgins competed with The Second Stage of Tachaia. In the end, after 17 rounds of fierce fighting, Higgins caught up with a 4-5 deficit in the first stage, defeated his opponent 10-7 and successfully advanced to the round of 16 of this World Championship.
Tachaia took the lead 95-32 in the first set, and Higgins won 84-30 in the second set to make it 1-1. In the third set, Thachaia scored a single 80 points, and after winning this set he led again 2-1. In the 4th inning, Higgins fired a single shot to shoot 128 points, and the two sides drew the first four sets to a 2-2 draw.
In the 5th set, Tacchaia won 85-21 to take the lead again. In the sixth inning, Thachaia scored 61 points to take a 4-2 lead after winning the set. Higgins scored a single 106 and 98 runs in the 7th and 8th innings to tie the innings to a 4-4 tie. In the 9th inning, Tacchaia blasted out a single shot of 114 points to take a 5-4 lead to end the first stage.
Higgins scored 75 points in the 10th inning to win the round 78-42. Innings, Tacchaia scored 77 points to take the lead again 6-5. In the 12th inning, Higgins scored 53 points and chased to six draws after winning the game. In the 13th inning, Higgins blasted out a single shot of 100 points to overtake his opponent 7-6. The next three innings were very tense, with Higgins winning the 14th and 16th innings to make it 9-7. In the 17th set, Higgins blasted out 65 points to win the set 100-5.
In the end, after 17 rounds of fierce fighting, Higgins eliminated his opponent Tacchaia 10-7 and successfully advanced to the Round of 16 of the World Championships. Higgins will be the winner between Brechel and Sancham in the next round. Thachaia played at the World Championships four times in his career, all of which stopped in the first round.