John Higgins (snooker Player)

John Higgins (snooker Player)

John Higgins, MBE (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. With four world titles in all (1998, 2007, 2009, 2011) he is joint-fourth overall in the modern era along with Ronnie O'Sullivan, and behind Stephen Hendry (7), Steve Davis (6) and Ray Reardon (6). To date, he has won a total of 25 ranking titles and compiled 500 competitive century breaks, including six maximum 147 breaks. Since the 1996/1997 season he has never dropped below 7th in the world rankings.

Turning professional in 1992, by the 1994/1995 season he was the first teenager to win three ranking events in a season. In just his third season he had climbed to number 11 in the rankings. In the 1996 UK Championship he lost 10–9 in the final to the then six time World Champion Hendry. Two years later, after a then-tournament record 14 centuries, he won his first World Championship by beating defending champion Ken Doherty 18–12. The win saw him ranked World Number 1 for the first time, ending the eight-year reign of Hendry. He added the UK Championship and the Masters the following season to become just the third player after Davis and Hendry to hold the Triple Crown of World, UK and Masters titles simultaneously.

In contrast to the prior dominance of Hendry or Davis, Higgins held the No.1 spot for just 2 years; it was not until 2007 that Higgins regained it from a briefly returning Hendry, with the interim period seeing it held twice each by Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan. The return to No.1 came after winning his second world title nine years after the first, beating Mark Selby 18–13. This was the longest gap since the ten years it took namesake Alex Higgins (1972–1982). A third World Championship followed two years later with an 18–9 victory over Shaun Murphy, meaning Higgins became the ninth player to win the title three or more times.

Having ended the 2009/2010 season by regaining the No.1 for the third time in his career, Higgins was the target of tabloid newspaper sting resulting in a 6-month ban from snooker. An investigation found he had failed to report, and given the impression of agreeing with, their invitation to breach the sport's betting rules. Higgins bounced back upon his return midway through the following season, winning a third UK Championship and regaining the No.1 spot for a fourth time. After the death of his father, Higgins won an emotional fourth World Championship title with an 18–15 win over Judd Trump.