Peter Ebdon didn't dare watch the telecast of the Worthington Spring Mile from Doncaster, even though it coincided with the mid-session interval. And by concentrating on the task at hand, he was eventually rewarded with a stunning, 6-1 win over John Higgins in the £200,000 Benson and Hedges Irish Masters yesterday.

As it happened, his four-year-old filly, Poetry in Motion, had a rather undistinguished outing, whereas Ebdon recorded a seventh win in eight meetings with the world champion. And the margin reflected the quality of the Englishman's quarter-final play, even allowing for decidedly moderate form from the game's top player.

In the process, Goff's came under scrutiny as a premier snooker venue. With only one win since 1996, it has clearly become something of a graveyard for Higgins. "I can imagine players getting fired-up here, but it can be a very daunting arena when you're struggling," said the 23-year-old Scot.

As the 1995 champion here, Ebdon understandably took a different view, saying: "I've always been a venue player and the atmosphere here is electric. I love it." He went on: "I've been waiting for a long time to play like this and it's an honour to have done so against John, who is one of the finest players the game has seen."

Then, on the critical issue of the 3.10 from Doncaster, the Londoner explained: "My wife Deborah phoned me yesterday, fearing I'd have a conflict of interest. So I took her advice, even though the race happened to coincide with the mid-session interval. I'm told the filly ran desperately."

By that stage, Ebdon was leading 4-0 after a critical fourth frame which could just as easily have gone Higgins's way. Twentytwo behind on the blue, Higgins laid a successful snooker when Ebdon failed with an over-ambitious swerve shot towards the ball, close to a bottom corner pocket.

In attempting a power pot on the blue, however, Higgins saw it bobble in the pocket and conceded the frame when his opponent successfully found the target. The Londoner had a break of 70 in that particular frame, having knocked in 111 in the third.

But his most interesting effort was an 88 in the fifth in which he started with 11 successive blacks, prompting thoughts of a maximum 147 before he ran out of position. Overall, it amounted to the most impressive scoring of the tournament so far. As for Higgins, his only effort of note in a decidedly low-key performance, was a break of 67 in winning the sixth frame.

Close observers of Ebdon have noticed a marked change in the player's behaviour since a brief exchange with Jimmy White after they had met in the Scottish Open last month. Exasperated by the fiddling nature of Ebdon's play, ranging from incessant chalking of the cue to regular visits to the toilet, White had rather sharp, Anglo-Saxon words with him when the match was over.

Since then, Ebdon's play has sped up appreciably. "Indecisiveness is a form of fear - that must have been the reason I became noted as a slow player," he admitted yesterday. "But I believe I've got the decisiveness and perseverance to regain the form that brought me to the final of the World Championship three years ago."

The 28-year-old added: "My long-term ambition is to breed horses and that's quite an expensive business. So I've got to start winning tournaments again."

Higgins was polite but clearly bemused while attempting to come to terms with this shock setback. "I know my record here isn't good but Peter's my bogey player; he seems to play out of his skin every time we meet," he said.

The fact is that world ranking and accumulated titles can count for little in short-match tournaments of this nature, so the departure of seeded players shouldn't be viewed as major shocks. This was clearly the thinking of Steve Davis as he confronted the 1992 winner, Stephen Hendry, before a capacity attendance last night.

It was an absorbing battle between a duo who succeeded each other as the world's number one for a total of 15 years from the 1983-84 season until 1997-98. Between then, they have won 141 titles, £10.7 million in prize money and appeared in 189 finals, apart from having won six world championships each.

They exchanged the opening four frames in which Davis twice came from behind, levelling in the fourth with a break of 79.

When Davis took the fifth, however, to lead for the first time, we were treated to vintage Hendry who produced a superb, total clearance of 133 in the sixth. This was only a point short of the highest break of the tournament so far, set by Ireland's Michael Judge on Wednesday night.

The Scot then regained the lead with a sparkling 123 up to the black, in the next. He also won the eighth, with a break of 62 and went on to take four-in-a-row for a comfortable, 6-3 victory, which hardly seemed likely, earlier in the match.