John Higgins is a Scottish professional snooker players who has won 19 titles both in the first ligue or cup of champions. His career also netted him a large fortune.
Higgins began his professional career playing snooker as an amateur player. Before turning professional, Higgins won a few amateur tournaments. Higgins won ranking tournaments shortly after becoming a professional. Higgins was also the first player to win three ranking tournaments within a single season.
Higgins' success continued into the 1994/95 seasons. He won two more ranking tournaments and a ranking final. He then became World number one for the first time. 1998 marked his first major title. Ronnie O'Sullivan beat him to the World Championship Finale in 2001. He was also in the Grand Prix final. He finished the season at World number 1.
Higgins fought Ronnie O'Sullivan during the 2006 season. He also won both the Welsh Open, and the Scottish Masters. His fourth British Open title was in 2004. In 2005, he reached final of the European Championship. He was also a finalist at Championship du Monde. In 2011, he won the second World Championship. He was also a finalist for the Shanghai Masters and Chinese Open. He reached the final of both the International Open as well as the World Championship in 2009. He was also the winner of the Ruhr Champion. In the 2009 season, he was the World number one.
Higgins was also a finalist at a variety of non-ranking tournaments. He has also reached finals in a variety of pro-am tournaments. He was the first player ever to win three tournament openings in one season. He also became the first person to win a World Ranking title and reach the quarter-finals at a British Open tournament.
John Higgins has reached final of eight World Championship tournaments in his career. He has reached the finals at two Masters tournaments including a UK Championship, Welsh Open, and Grand Prix. He has been a winner 18 times.
Higgins had a turbulent career. News of the World undercover team discovered that John Higgins' manager and John Higgins had set up matches in a tournament. David Douglas, former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent, investigated the allegations. The investigation determined that Higgins didn't have any involvement in this scandal. Nonetheless, Higgins was suspended from professional competition for six months. He was also fined PS75,000.
After his suspension, Higgins resumed his professional career in November 2010. He reached the finals in the Shanghai Masters as well the Ruhr Champion. He reached two other finals during the 2005/06 season. He finished the season ranked fifth in the world. Mark Williams, a Welshman, replaced him as World number 1 In 2013, he was ranked fifth worldwide, but he fell to 12th the following year.