John Higgins
17th November 2010
Current World Champion and four times Crucible King.
D.O.B. 18 May 1975
Lives Wishaw, Lanarkshire
Turned Pro 1992
Ranking Tournament Victories 24 - Grand Prix 1994, 1999, 2005, 2008; International 1995, 1996; British Open 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004; German Open 1995, 1997; European Open 1997; World Snooker Championship 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011; UK Championship 1998, 2000, 2010; China International 1999; Welsh Open 2000, 2010, 2011
Last season World Snooker Tour prize money £427,000
Highest Tournament Break 147 - five times
It is often said that no player can dominate snooker these days because there are so many good players, but Betfred.com World Champion John Higgins is making a decent fist of proving that theory wrong.
He won 18 of his last 19 matches in full ranking events at the end of the 2010/11 season, a campaign in which he captured the two biggest ranking titles in snooker.
Higgins missed the first few events of the season due to a ban for breaching betting regulations, but hit the ground running on his comeback by winning the Euro Players Tour Championship event in Hamm, Germany, beating Shaun Murphy 4-2 in the final. He also reached the final of the next EPTC event in Prague but lost to Michael Holt.
The Scot went on to win the 12BET.com UK Championship, beating Mark Williams 10-9 in an incredible final. He trailed 9-5 at one stage but fought his way back, crucially winning the 17th frame after needing a snooker on the yellow. "I just tried to stay focussed all week here and go about things my own way. I was determined not to let anything stop me from winning it," he said.
Higgins had to pull out of the German Masters due to the sad death of his father, John Snr, and it was an emotional moment when he returned to action at the Wyldecrest Welsh Open. Once again he kept his focus on the table and went all the way to the first prize, coming from 5-2 down in the final to beat Stephen Maguire 9-6.
His only ranking event defeat came against Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals of the Bank of Beijing China Open, and Higgins went to Sheffield determined to land the World title for the fourth time. Victories over Stephen Lee, Rory McLeod, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams, put him into the final against young sensation Judd Trump.
Once again Higgins had to recover a deficit as he trailed 10-7 overnight, but snooker's version of the Terminator just can't be killed off. Inspired by an extraordinary atmosphere, he hit back to win 18-15.
"I want to get to seven world titles now, because I've won three in the last five years," said ambitious Higgins. "I've rededicated myself in recent years and I want to keep winning it. Since I came back in November I have won pretty much everything I have entered. It has been an ubelieveable six or seven months for me. I am scrapping for everything now; every point, every frame, every match."
The previous season had yielded just one title for Higgins - the Welsh Open which he took with a 9-4 final success over Ali Carter.
Higgins won his first World title in 1998 when he beat Ken Doherty 18-12 in the final, and his second in 2007 when he got the better of Mark Selby 18-13. His third came in 2009 when he beat the cream of the crop of snooker's emerging talent, knocking out Jamie Cope, Selby and Mark Allen before beating Shaun Murphy 18-9 in the final.
"To come through the matches with the standard put up by Cope, Selby and Allen, three of the best young players we have in the game, and to fight fire with fire when they played really well, to come through that gave me an enormous boost of confidence coming into the final," he said.
With a superb tactical game to go alongside his break-building class, he is considered alongside Steve Davis the best all-round players of the modern era.
Higgins has won 24 ranking titles in all, as well as the Masters twice. In the thrilling 2006 Masters final at Wembley he faced Ronnie O'Sullivan. Tied at 9-9, O'Sullivan opened the deciding frame with a break of 60 only for Higgins to clear the table with a brilliant 64 which included several do-or-die pots. "This win will stay with me for the rest of my days," he said.
Higgins has made five competitive 147 breaks, including two in consecutive matches - one in the 2003 LG Cup final and the next in the first round of the subsequent British Open.
His hobbies include watching football and playing golf. He enjoys gourmet food and cooking and appeared alongside Shaun Murphy on BBC show Ready Steady Cook.
He has also recently appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, showing off his knowledge of the TV soap Dallas, as well as winning £30,000 for charity on All Star Mr And Mrs.
He and wife Denise have young sons called Pierce and Oliver and a daughter called Claudia.
17th November 2010
Current World Champion and four times Crucible King.
D.O.B. 18 May 1975
Lives Wishaw, Lanarkshire
Turned Pro 1992
Ranking Tournament Victories 24 - Grand Prix 1994, 1999, 2005, 2008; International 1995, 1996; British Open 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004; German Open 1995, 1997; European Open 1997; World Snooker Championship 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011; UK Championship 1998, 2000, 2010; China International 1999; Welsh Open 2000, 2010, 2011
Last season World Snooker Tour prize money £427,000
Highest Tournament Break 147 - five times
It is often said that no player can dominate snooker these days because there are so many good players, but Betfred.com World Champion John Higgins is making a decent fist of proving that theory wrong.
He won 18 of his last 19 matches in full ranking events at the end of the 2010/11 season, a campaign in which he captured the two biggest ranking titles in snooker.
Higgins missed the first few events of the season due to a ban for breaching betting regulations, but hit the ground running on his comeback by winning the Euro Players Tour Championship event in Hamm, Germany, beating Shaun Murphy 4-2 in the final. He also reached the final of the next EPTC event in Prague but lost to Michael Holt.
The Scot went on to win the 12BET.com UK Championship, beating Mark Williams 10-9 in an incredible final. He trailed 9-5 at one stage but fought his way back, crucially winning the 17th frame after needing a snooker on the yellow. "I just tried to stay focussed all week here and go about things my own way. I was determined not to let anything stop me from winning it," he said.
Higgins had to pull out of the German Masters due to the sad death of his father, John Snr, and it was an emotional moment when he returned to action at the Wyldecrest Welsh Open. Once again he kept his focus on the table and went all the way to the first prize, coming from 5-2 down in the final to beat Stephen Maguire 9-6.
His only ranking event defeat came against Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals of the Bank of Beijing China Open, and Higgins went to Sheffield determined to land the World title for the fourth time. Victories over Stephen Lee, Rory McLeod, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams, put him into the final against young sensation Judd Trump.
Once again Higgins had to recover a deficit as he trailed 10-7 overnight, but snooker's version of the Terminator just can't be killed off. Inspired by an extraordinary atmosphere, he hit back to win 18-15.
"I want to get to seven world titles now, because I've won three in the last five years," said ambitious Higgins. "I've rededicated myself in recent years and I want to keep winning it. Since I came back in November I have won pretty much everything I have entered. It has been an ubelieveable six or seven months for me. I am scrapping for everything now; every point, every frame, every match."
The previous season had yielded just one title for Higgins - the Welsh Open which he took with a 9-4 final success over Ali Carter.
Higgins won his first World title in 1998 when he beat Ken Doherty 18-12 in the final, and his second in 2007 when he got the better of Mark Selby 18-13. His third came in 2009 when he beat the cream of the crop of snooker's emerging talent, knocking out Jamie Cope, Selby and Mark Allen before beating Shaun Murphy 18-9 in the final.
"To come through the matches with the standard put up by Cope, Selby and Allen, three of the best young players we have in the game, and to fight fire with fire when they played really well, to come through that gave me an enormous boost of confidence coming into the final," he said.
With a superb tactical game to go alongside his break-building class, he is considered alongside Steve Davis the best all-round players of the modern era.
Higgins has won 24 ranking titles in all, as well as the Masters twice. In the thrilling 2006 Masters final at Wembley he faced Ronnie O'Sullivan. Tied at 9-9, O'Sullivan opened the deciding frame with a break of 60 only for Higgins to clear the table with a brilliant 64 which included several do-or-die pots. "This win will stay with me for the rest of my days," he said.
Higgins has made five competitive 147 breaks, including two in consecutive matches - one in the 2003 LG Cup final and the next in the first round of the subsequent British Open.
His hobbies include watching football and playing golf. He enjoys gourmet food and cooking and appeared alongside Shaun Murphy on BBC show Ready Steady Cook.
He has also recently appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, showing off his knowledge of the TV soap Dallas, as well as winning £30,000 for charity on All Star Mr And Mrs.
He and wife Denise have young sons called Pierce and Oliver and a daughter called Claudia.
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