John Higgins suffered a shock 6-3 defeat against home favourite Cao Yupeng in the first round of the International Championship in Chengdu, China yesterday.

Higgins, looking to complete a double in China after triumphing in the Shanghai Masters last month, was sluggish throughout and despite taking a 2-0 lead with breaks of 71 and 73, Cao fought back spectacularly to take the next five frames.

The four-time world champion looked to be on the comeback trail when he clinched the next – missing out on a 147 in the process after failing to pot the 11th red – but his 22-year-old opponent held his nerve to wrap up the biggest win of his fledgling career.

Cao will next take on either Mark Allen or Robert Milkins in the last 16 and a match against the former could prove interesting.

After being defeated in the first round of this year’s World Championship, Allen accused the Chinese of dishonesty, claiming Cao failed to declare an illegal push shot when leading 5-4.

The Northern Irishman further alleged that “blatant cheating” might be “a bit of a trait for the Chinese players” before issuing an apology for his remarks.