John Higgins

For other people named John Higgins, see John Higgins (disambiguation).

John Higgins
MBE
Higgins at the 2014 German Masters
Born (1975-05-18) 18 May 1975 (age 49)
Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Sport country Scotland
NicknameThe Wizard of Wishaw[1]
Professional1992–present
Highest ranking1 (May 1998 – May 2000, May 2007 – May 2008, May–September 2010, December 2010 – May 2011)
Current ranking 14 (as of 30 September 2024)
Maximum breaks13
Century breaks1,004 (as of 2 October 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking31
Minor-ranking3
World Champion

John Higgins MBE (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 31 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (41) and Stephen Hendry (36). He has won four World Championships, three UK Championships and two Masters titles, for a total of nine Triple Crown titles, putting him level with Mark Selby and behind only O'Sullivan (23), Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15). He first entered the top 16 in the 1995–96 world rankings and remained there continuously for over 29 years until September 2024, setting a record for the longest uninterrupted tenure as a top-16 player.[2][3] He reached the world number one position four times.

In 2010, a tabloid newspaper carried out a sting operation in Ukraine, in which it claimed to show Higgins and his then-manager arranging to lose specific frames in future matches for money. An investigation cleared Higgins of match-fixing allegations but the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association found that he had brought the sport into disrepute by failing to disclose an invitation to breach the sport's betting rules and giving the impression of agreeing to it. Higgins was banned from professional competition for six months and fined £75,000. After winning his fourth world title in 2011, Higgins' form became less consistent and he has gone for lengthy periods without title wins. He reached three consecutive World Championship finals between 2017 and 2019, but lost each time, to Selby in 2017, to Mark Williams in 2018, and to Judd Trump in 2019. In the 2021–22 season, he lost five major finals, including the 2022 Tour Championship, when he led Neil Robertson 9–4 but lost the match 9–10.

Higgins made his 1,000th professional century break at the 2024 English Open, becoming the second player, after O'Sullivan, to reach that milestone.[4] He has made 13 officially recognised maximum breaks in professional competition, second only to O'Sullivan's 15, and holds the record as the oldest player to make a professional maximum, achieved at the 2024 Championship League when he was aged 48 years and 268 days.[5] Alongside O'Sullivan and Williams, he is one of the three players known as the "Class of '92", who all turned professional during the 1992–93 snooker season.

  1. ^ "John Higgins". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ Kane, Desmond (23 September 2024). "English Open snooker: John Higgins sees record 29-year stay in top 16 ended by Neil Robertson triumph". Eurosport. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Robertson Regains Top 16 Spot And Ends Higgins' Record Streak". World Snooker Tour. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Higgins Fires In Landmark 1000th Century". World Snooker Tour. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Higgins Makes 13th Maximum". World Snooker Tour. 10 February 2024. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.