1. John Higgins was born on 18 May 1975 and is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire.
50 Facts About John Higgins
1. 2.
John Higgins 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, Hendry and Steve Davis.
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John Higgins reached the world number one position four times.
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In 1994, two years after turning professional, Higgins won his first ranking event at the 1994 Grand Prix.
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John Higgins won two more ranking events that season, the first teenager to win three ranking events in a single season.
6.
John Higgins reached his first Triple Crown final at the 1995 Masters losing to O'Sullivan, and then the 1996 UK Championship, losing on a to Hendry.
7.
Two years later, at the 1998 World Snooker Championship, John Higgins won his first World Championship, defeating Ken Doherty in the final.
8.
John Higgins won the UK Championship twice in 1998 and 2000 and the 1999 Masters before reaching the world championship final again at the 2001 World Snooker Championship, losing to O'Sullivan.
9.
John Higgins won the World Championship again in 2007 and 2009, the UK Championship in 2009 and 2010 and the Masters in 2006.
10.
John Higgins 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.
11.
John Higgins made his 1,000th professional century break at the 2024 English Open, becoming the second player, after O'Sullivan, to reach that milestone.
12.
John Higgins 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.
13.
John Higgins holds the record for the biggest time span between a player's first and most recent ranking tournament win, having won his first ranking event at the 1994 Grand Prix and his latest at the 2025 Tour Championship, 30 years and 165 days later.
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At the World Junior Masters John Higgins won, while Williams won the British Junior Championship.
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John Higgins made a then-record 14 centuries during the tournament.
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John Higgins' success had seen him advance rapidly up the world rankings.
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John Higgins was the third player, after Steve Davis and Hendry, to hold the three titles simultaneously, an achievement later emulated by Mark Williams.
18.
John Higgins is one of six players to have won both the World Championship and UK Championship in the same calendar year; the others are Davis, Hendry, Parrott, O'Sullivan and Mark Selby.
19.
John Higgins held the world number one position for two seasons before Williams replaced him at the top of the rankings.
20.
John Higgins failed to win a major title for another three years, until the 2004 British Open.
21.
Clive Everton later claimed that John Higgins "lost his edge" during this period, due to becoming preoccupied with fatherhood; John Higgins' wife Denise confirmed that she had to "push him out of the house to practise".
22.
John Higgins scored a then-record 494 points without reply in the match.
23.
At the 2007 World Snooker Championship, John Higgins beat Michael Holt, Fergal O'Brien, O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire en route to the final.
24.
John Higgins devised a new players' union with his manager Pat Mooney, called The Snooker Players Association.
25.
John Higgins was immediately suspended from the game and Mooney resigned from his position on the WPBSA board.
26.
John Higgins issued a statement on the day of the allegations.
27.
John Higgins denied that he had ever been involved in match-fixing and explained that he had decided to "play along" out of fears for his safety, suspecting the involvement of the Russian Mafia.
28.
The independent tribunal that followed in September 2010, hosted by Sports Resolutions and chaired by Ian Mill QC, concurred that the WPBSA was right to conclude that John Higgins had truthfully accounted for his words and actions and to withdraw the more serious charges of match-fixing, but found him guilty of "giving the impression" that he would breach betting rules and of failing to report the approach made to him by the News of the World.
29.
John Higgins won the Hainan Classic, defeating Jamie Cope in the final.
30.
John Higgins made a maximum break during the final and another in his second-round match against Mark Davis at the 2012 UK Championship.
31.
John Higgins finished the season ranked 11th, slipping out of the top 10 for the first time in 17 seasons.
32.
John Higgins revealed that he had switched to a fourth new cue, had regained his tempo and felt that he was playing better than he had in some time.
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John Higgins ended the campaign as the world number 11, the lowest he has been at the end of the season in 19 years.
34.
John Higgins arrived at the 2014 UK Championship stating that he was struggling for confidence and concerned that a poor result in the championship could cost him his top-16 ranking and his place at the Masters.
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John Higgins said later that he had "cracked under pressure".
36.
John Higgins lost a deciding frame to Selby in the quarter-finals of the 2016 UK Championship.
37.
At the 2017 World Snooker Championship, John Higgins reached his first world final in six years.
38.
John Higgins became, aged 41, the oldest finalist in 35 years.
39.
John Higgins reached the final of the 2018 World Snooker Championship, but lost again to Mark Williams.
40.
John Higgins surpassed Stephen Hendry's career total of 775 centuries during the 2019 Scottish Open.
41.
John Higgins made his 800th career century on the first day of the 2020 Champion of Champions, although he lost the match to Ding Junhui.
42.
On 28 February 2021, John Higgins defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the Players Championship to claim his 31st ranking title and his first ranking title in three years.
43.
John Higgins froze me out from start to finish, he played an incredible match.
44.
In September 2024, John Higgins made his 1000th career century at the English Open to become just the second player after O'Sullivan to achieve this feat.
45.
John Higgins reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 World Championship where he faced Mark Williams.
46.
In 2000,25-year-old John Higgins married his childhood sweetheart, 24-year-old Denise.
47.
John Higgins is a supporter of Celtic FC and follows English club Everton.
48.
In 2006, John Higgins was escorted off a plane for being drunk after losing the Malta Cup final to Ken Doherty, but he became teetotal in preparation for the 2007 World Championship which he went on to win.
49.
John Higgins was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours.
50.
In January 2010, John Higgins appeared on the BBC's Celebrity Mastermind, answering questions on his specialist subject Dallas.