During a career that has spanned 19 years, Scottish professional snooker player John Higgins has won 19 titles in both first ligue and cup of champions. His career also netted him a large fortune.
Higgins began his professional snooker playing as an amateur. He was an amateur snooker player who had won several tournaments before becoming a professional. After becoming professional, Higgins began winning ranking tournaments. He was also the first participant to win three ranking tournaments in a single season.
Higgins' success continued for the 1994/95 year. He won two more ranking tournaments and a ranking final. He was then crowned World number 1. 1998 was his first major title. Ronnie O'Sullivan beat him to the World Championship Finale in 2001. He had also reached final of the Grand Prix. He finished the season at World number 1.
Higgins played Ronnie O'Sullivan as a batsman during The Masters 2006. He was also awarded the Welsh Open and Scottish Masters. His fourth British Open title was in 2004. He reached the European Championship final in 2005. He was also a finalist in the Championship du monde. In 2011, he won the second World Championship. He was also a finalist at the Shanghai Masters and Chinese Open. In 2009, his finals at the International Open and World Championship were reached. He was also the winner of the Ruhr Champion. He was World number one for the 2009 season.
Higgins has been a finalist in several non-ranking tournaments. He has also reached the final of a number of pro-am tournaments and variant finals. 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 also reached the finals in two Masters tournaments: a UK Championship and a Welsh Open. He has been a winner 18 times.
Higgins' career wasn't without controversy. An undercover operation conducted by News of the World in May 2010 alleged that John Higgins had arranged matches for a tournament with his manager. David Douglas (ex-detailed chief superintendent of Metropolitan Police) investigated the allegations. Investigation revealed that Higgins had not been involved in the scandal. Higgins, however, was removed from professional competition after six months. Higgins was also penalized PS75,000.
Higgins resumed work in November 2010, after his suspension. He reached the finals of the Ruhr Championship as well as the Shanghai Masters. He also reached the finals of two other championships during 2005/06. He was ranked fifth worldwide at the end of the season. Mark Williams, a Welshman, replaced him as World number 1 He was ranked 5th in the world in 2013, but he dropped to 12th place in the rankings the year after that.