ALAN McManus marched into the second round of the World Snooker Championship with a defeat of fellow veteran John Higgins - then unleashed a rant on social media for killing the game's young guns.

McManus had not won a match at the World Championship since beating Ken Doherty in the last 16 in 2005, but will now face the 44-year-old, a former Crucible champion like Higgins, at the same stage again on Friday.

The 43-year-old booked that clash by beating long-time friend Higgins in a tight battle yesterday, snuffing out the four-time world champion's mini-revival in the second session to take a 10-7 victory.

And the Glaswegian potter they call Angles for his precise style of play believes younger players should start following the old guard's example to prolong their career at the very highest level.

He said: "I think personally the older players have stolen a march on today's young brigade.

"Today's world isn't good for young people in snooker terms because they spend all their time on Facebook.

"I've seen it and I do see it and they're too busy reading and writing about snooker instead of getting their nut down."

Higgins had won the last three frames in the first session to seemingly head into yesterday with the momentum, but poor positional play initially blighted his comeback attempt.

But the world No.9 found his groove to pull it back to 9-7 - including a match-high break of 111 - before missing a crucial blue to allow McManus to mop up.

"There have been times I've sat here desolate thinking there's nothing at the end of the tunnel, but I definitely think I've got some decent snooker left in me," said Higgins.

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