John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 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, behind only O'Sullivan (23), Hendry (18), Steve Davis (15) and Mark Selby (10). He first entered the top 16 in the 1995âÂÂ96 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. He reached the world number one position four times.
In 1994 Higgins won his first ranking event at the 1994 Grand Prix. He also won two more ranking events that season, the first teenager to win three ranking events in a single season. At the 1998 World Snooker Championship, Higgins won his first World Championship, defeating Ken Doherty in the final. He 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. Higgins won the World Championship again in 2007 and 2009, the UK Championship in 2009 and 2010 and the Masters in 2006.
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 ã75,000. After winning his fourth world title in 2011, 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 2021âÂÂ22 season, he lost five ranking finals. In the 2024âÂÂ25 snooker season, Higgins won two ranking events in the same season for the first time since 2015.
Higgins made his 1,000th professional century break at the 2024 English Open, becoming the second player, after O'Sullivan, to reach that milestone. He has made 13 officially recognised maximum breaks in professional competition, second only to O'Sullivan's 17. He also 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. Alongside O'Sullivan and Williams, he is one of the three players known as the "Class of '92", who all turned professional during the 1992âÂÂ93 snooker season.
As amateur players, Higgins and Mark Williams faced each other in two finals in 1991. At the World Junior Masters Higgins won, while Williams won the British Junior Championship. The following year, Higgins turned professional. He reached the last eight of the 1993 British Open during his first season on the tour, before losing 3âÂÂ5 to Jimmy White. Aged 19, Higgins defeated Dave Harold 9âÂÂ6 in the final of the 1994 Grand Prix. This was the first ranking title of his career. The same season, he also won the 1995 International Open and the 1995 British Open, making him the first teenager to win three ranking events in a single season. He reached the finals of the 1995 Welsh Open, losing 3âÂÂ9 to Steve Davis, and the 1995 Masters, losing by the same score to Ronnie O'Sullivan. His first time playing at the World Snooker Championship in 1995 he lost 3âÂÂ10 in the first round to fellow Scottish player Alan McManus. Later that year he won his fourth ranking title at the inaugural 1995 German Open beating Ken Doherty 9âÂÂ3 in the final.
At the 1996 International Open he defeated Rod Lawler 9âÂÂ3 in the final, to retain the championship. Later that season, at the 1996 World Snooker Championship, he defeated Martin Clarke 10âÂÂ5 in the first round and McManus 13âÂÂ5 in the second round. Facing O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals, he led 12âÂÂ10, but lost the match 12âÂÂ13 after O'Sullivan won the last three frames. At the 1996 UK Championship, he defeated Tony Drago, Williams and Doherty to reach the final, where he faced the world champion, Stephen Hendry. Higgins trailed 4âÂÂ8 before winning five consecutive frames to lead 9âÂÂ8; however, he lost the final 9âÂÂ10. He won his sixth ranking title at the 1997 European Open, defeating Parrott 9âÂÂ5 in the final. He reached the quarter-finals again at the 1997 World Championship, but lost 9âÂÂ13 to eventual winner Doherty. He won the 1997 German Open, beating Parrott 9âÂÂ4 in the final, and won his eighth ranking title at the 1998 British Open, beating Hendry 9âÂÂ8 in the final.
At the 1998 World Snooker Championship, Higgins defeated Jason Ferguson 10âÂÂ8, Anthony Hamilton 13âÂÂ9, John Parrott 13âÂÂ11 and O'Sullivan 17âÂÂ9 in the semi-finals. In the final, he defeated the defending champion Doherty 18âÂÂ12 to win his first World Championship and ninth ranking title. He made a then-record 14 centuries during the tournament (Hendry beat his record, with 16 centuries, at the 2002 World Championship, which Mark Williams equalled at the 2022 World Championship). Higgins' success had seen him advance rapidly up the world rankings. In the 1994/1995 rankings, he was 51st; in the 1995/1996 rankings, he was 11th; and in the 1996/1997 and 1997/1998 rankings, he was second. After winning the world title, Higgins became world number one in the 1998/1999 rankings, ending Hendry's eight consecutive years in the top spot.
During the 1998âÂÂ99 season, Higgins won the 1998 UK Championship, defeating Matthew Stevens 10âÂÂ6 in the final, and the 1999 Masters, defeating Doherty 10âÂÂ8 in the final. By winning the UK, Masters and World Championships, Higgins completed a career Triple Crown. He was also the third player, after Steve Davis and Hendry, to hold the three titles simultaneously, an achievement later emulated by Mark Williams. Higgins is also 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.
Higgins held the world number one position for two seasons before Williams replaced him at the top of the rankings. Higgins and Williams met in the 1999 Grand Prix final, where Higgins came from 2âÂÂ6 down to claim a 9âÂÂ8 victory. They also met in the 2000 World Snooker Championship semi-finals, where Higgins initially led 14âÂÂ10 but ultimately lost 15âÂÂ17. They also played again in the 2000 UK Championship final, where Higgins won 10âÂÂ4 to claim his second UK title. Higgins reached his second world final at the 2001 World Snooker Championship, but lost 14âÂÂ18 to O'Sullivan. At the beginning of the 2001âÂÂ02 season, he became the first player to win the opening three tournaments in a season: the 2001 Champions Cup in August, the 2001 Scottish Masters in September, and the 2001 British Open in October. He failed to win a major title for another three years, until the 2004 British Open. Clive Everton later claimed that Higgins "lost his edge" during this period, due to becoming preoccupied with fatherhood; Higgins' wife Denise confirmed that she had to "push him out of the house to practise".
In the 2005 Grand Prix final, Higgins comprehensively defeated O'Sullivan 9âÂÂ2. He became the first player to make four consecutive centuries in a ranking event, with breaks of 103, 104, 138 and 128 in frames 7âÂÂ10. Higgins also scored a then-record 494 points without reply in the match. Of Higgins' performance, O'Sullivan commented that he had "never seen anything like it", while Everton stated that Higgins was "back to the kind of form which gave him the 1998 world title". Higgins and O'Sullivan also faced each other in consecutive Masters finals in 2005 and 2006. Higgins lost 3âÂÂ10 in 2005. In 2006, he lost the first three frames, but won the next five to lead after the first session. O'Sullivan levelled the scores in the evening session and the match went to a deciding frame. O'Sullivan missed a to a while on a of 60, and Higgins made a of 64 to win 10âÂÂ9 and claim his second Masters title.
At the 2007 World Snooker Championship, Higgins beat Michael Holt, Fergal O'Brien, O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire en route to the final. Trailing 10âÂÂ14 against Maguire, Higgins won 17âÂÂ15, making the 1,000th century to be made at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield since the World Championship was first staged there in 1977. In the final, Higgins held a 12âÂÂ4 advantage over Selby overnight, but Selby reduced his arrears to a single frame on day two. However, at 14âÂÂ13, Higgins rediscovered his form to win four consecutive frames to clinch the match 18âÂÂ13 to secure his second World title at 12:54 am, the latest finish to a World final (equalled when Neil Robertson beat Graeme Dott in 2010); and nine years after his first title â the longest time span between successes since Alex Higgins (1972, 1982) and the longest at the Crucible. He regained world number one status.
As World Champion, Higgins best performance was only reaching the quarter-final stages in the Welsh Open and China Open tournaments. He helped to establish, and actively promoted, the World Series of Snooker â a tour intended to bring snooker to new venues outside the traditional United Kingdom and recently developed Far East markets. He won the inaugural event in St. Helier in June 2008, beating Mark Selby 6âÂÂ3 in the final. Higgins also devised a new players' union with his manager Pat Mooney, called The Snooker Players Association. He won the Grand Prix for the fourth time in 2008, beating Ryan Day 9âÂÂ7 in the final in Glasgow â his first ranking tournament win on home soil.
At the 2009 World Snooker Championship, Higgins beat Michael Holt 10âÂÂ5 in round one. His second-round and quarter-final matches both went the full distance of 25 frames, with Higgins overcoming Jamie Cope and Mark Selby, respectively, to win 13âÂÂ12. He established a 13âÂÂ3 lead in the semi-final against Mark Allen and progressed 17âÂÂ13 . Higgins recorded an 18âÂÂ9 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final to become the ninth player to win the World title three or more times after Joe Davis, Fred Davis, John Pulman, John Spencer, Ray Reardon, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan.
In the 2009âÂÂ10 season, as reigning World Champion, he lost 5âÂÂ6 on the black ball to Neil Robertson in the semi-final of the Grand Prix; and 8âÂÂ10 to Ding Junhui in the final of the UK Championship, after surviving a comeback by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-final when leading 8âÂÂ2, to advance 9âÂÂ8 the previous evening. He also defeated Neil Robertson 9âÂÂ8 during the tournament. He captured the Welsh Open title by defeating Ali Carter 9âÂÂ4 in the final, and ended the season as world number one despite an 11âÂÂ13 loss to Steve Davis in round two of the World Championship.
On 2 May 2010, Higgins and his manager, Pat Mooney, a World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) board member, were the subject of match-fixing allegations. They were filmed in a sting operation conducted by the News of the World. On 30 April, an undercover News of the World team, led by Mazher Mahmood, posing as promoters, had met Higgins and his manager in a hotel room in Kyiv under the pretence of organising a series of events linked to the World Series of Snooker. The newspaper alleged that Higgins and Mooney had agreed to lose four frames in four separate tournaments in exchange for a total payment of â¬300,000 and further discussed the mechanics of how to fix a frame, which tournaments and opponents to choose and how Higgins would receive the money. Higgins was immediately suspended from the game and Mooney resigned from his position on the WPBSA board. Higgins issued a statement on the day of the allegations. He 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.
A full investigation was conducted into the allegations by David Douglas, former Metropolitan Police detective chief superintendent and head of the WPBSA's disciplinary committee. The independent tribunal that followed in September 2010, hosted by Sports Resolutions (UK) and chaired by Ian Mill QC, concurred that the WPBSA was right to conclude that 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. Higgins received a six-month ban, backdated to the start of his suspension period, and was fined ã75,000.
Higgins returned to professional competition on 12 November 2010 in the Ruhr Championship â European Players Tour Championship (EPTC) event five in Hamm and went on to win the tournament beating Shaun Murphy 4âÂÂ2 in the final. At the next event, the Prague Classic, the sixth European Players Tour event, he reached the final again, but lost 3âÂÂ4 to Michael Holt.
At the 2010 UK Championship, his first tournament on British soil since his return, he reached his third final in succession. He fought back from 2âÂÂ7 and 5âÂÂ9 down against Mark Williams, and from 7âÂÂ9 after trailing 0âÂÂ61 and needing a to level the match. He made a 68 break in the decider and sealed a 10âÂÂ9 victory with a on the . As a result of his progress in those three events, where he won 18 out of 19 matches, Higgins earned sufficient points to regain his position as world number one under the new two-year rolling ranking system after having slipped to third by missing the start of the 2010âÂÂ11 snooker season.
Higgins lost in the first round of the 2011 Masters 4âÂÂ6 against Graeme Dott, and withdrew from the German Masters after defeating Robert Milkins 5âÂÂ3 in round one, to return home due to the deteriorating health of his father, who subsequently died from cancer. A little over two weeks later, Higgins successfully defended his Welsh Open title by beating Stephen Maguire 9âÂÂ6 in the final â dedicating victory to his late father. Higgins won the Hainan Classic, defeating Jamie Cope in the final. Higgins reached the quarter-final of the China Open, where he lost 2âÂÂ5 against Shaun Murphy. Higgins' next tournament was the Scottish Professional Championship, where he defeated Anthony McGill 6âÂÂ1 in the final.
In the 2011 World Snooker Championship, Higgins defeated Stephen Lee 10âÂÂ5 in the first round, Rory McLeod 13âÂÂ7 in the second round and Ronnie O'Sullivan 13âÂÂ10 in the quarter-finals. On the way to a 17âÂÂ14 victory over Mark Williams in the semi-finals, Higgins was heckled by an audience member who shouted out, "How do you swallow that three hundred thousand, John? ... You're a disgrace to snooker." Higgins went on to defeat Judd Trump 18âÂÂ15 in the final to win his fourth world title, which prompted Steve Davis to comment "I think John Higgins is the best snooker player I've ever seen in my life". Despite the victory, Higgins lost the world number one ranking to Mark Williams.
In the 2011âÂÂ12 snooker season, reaching only two quarter-finals of major ranking events. His season-best performance was reaching the semi-finals of the Masters, where he lost 4âÂÂ6 to Shaun Murphy. Before the 2012 World Snooker Championship, he admitted that he had not practiced much throughout the season and did not feel confident about defending his title. In the first round of the tournament, he came from 6âÂÂ8 down to defeat Liang Wenbo 10âÂÂ9. He then played Hendry in the second round, the first time the two players had ever met in a World Championship match, but Hendry won 13âÂÂ4, with Higgins calling it the worst he had ever played at the Crucible. He finished the season ranked world number five.
Higgins started the 2012âÂÂ13 season by winning his 25th ranking title at the Shanghai Masters, after coming back from 2âÂÂ7 down to defeat Judd Trump 10âÂÂ9 in the final. He made a maximum break during the final and another in his second-round match against Mark Davis at the 2012 UK Championship. He won the minor-ranking Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy, defeating Trump 4âÂÂ2 in the final, also reaching the final of the minor-ranking Bulgarian Open, where he lost 0âÂÂ4 to Trump. However, Higgins did not enjoy sustained success for the rest of the season, reaching only one other semi-final of a major ranking event, the World Open, which he lost 2âÂÂ6 to Mark Allen. He exited the 2013 World Snooker Championship in the first round, losing 6âÂÂ10 to Mark Davis. Afterward, he admitted that doubts about whether he could remain at the top of the world rankings after 20 years as a professional had affected his form. He finished the season ranked 11th, slipping out of the top 10 for the first time in 17 seasons.
Playing with a new cue, he won the minor-ranking 2013 Bulgarian Open with a 4âÂÂ1 victory over Neil Robertson in the final, having beaten Shaun Murphy and Ronnie O'Sullivan earlier in the event. He reached the final of the season's first major ranking event, the 2013 Wuxi Classic, which he lost 7âÂÂ10 to Robertson. He changed his cue again before defending his Shanghai Masters title, but lost 1âÂÂ5 to Mark Davis in the last 16. His Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup title defence ended when he was whitewashed 0âÂÂ4 by Andrew Higginson in the last 128. He lost 2âÂÂ4 to Ding Junhui in the last 16 of the 2013 Indian Open, and 2âÂÂ6 to Matthew Stevens in the last 32 of the 2013 International Championship. In the invitational 2013 Champion of Champions, he lost 3âÂÂ4 in the first round to Maguire.
Higgins called his form "soul-destroying" as lost 3âÂÂ6 to Maguire in the last 16 of the 2013 UK Championship. Referring to Higgins' frequent changes of cue, Joe Johnson alleged in commentary that Higgins was "searching for something that is not there" and "looking for someone or something to blame" for his poor form. Higgins retaliated by claiming that players in Johnson's era had struggled to make breaks of 30 or 40 on tables with much larger pockets and by calling Johnson one of the sport's worst commentators. After the UK Championship, he slipped to number 12 in the world rankings, having failed to progress beyond the last 16 of any tournament since the Wuxi Classic in June.
Before the 2014 Masters, Higgins revealed that he had reached the "depths of despair" after the UK Championship, after spending months "in turmoil". He also 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. He defeated Stuart Bingham 6âÂÂ2 in the first round, but lost 5âÂÂ6 in the quarter-finals to defending champion Selby, despite having led the match 5âÂÂ3.
At the 2014 German Masters, Higgins lost 3âÂÂ5 to Dominic Dale in the last 32. At the 2014 Welsh Open, he defeated Trump 4âÂÂ3 in the last 16, but lost 1âÂÂ5 to O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals. He reached a third consecutive ranking tournament quarter-final at the Players Tour Championship Finals, but lost 1âÂÂ4 to Marco Fu. He suffered a second consecutive first-round exit from the World Championship when he lost 7âÂÂ10 to fellow Scot Alan McManus. After the match, Higgins described himself as a "journeyman top-16 player now," suggesting that he no longer regarded himself among the top contenders at tournaments. He ended the campaign as the world number 11, the lowest he has been at the end of the season in 19 years.
Higgins continued to struggle in the opening ranking events of the 2014âÂÂ15 season, losing 4âÂÂ5 to Alan McManus in the last 32 of the Wuxi Classic, 2âÂÂ5 to Robert Milkins in the last 16 of the Australian Goldfields Open, and 4âÂÂ5 to Ryan Day in the last 32 of the Shanghai Masters. He defended his minor-ranking Bulgarian Open title, but lost 1âÂÂ4 against Judd Trump in the last 64. At the ranking International Championship, he lost 1âÂÂ6 to Li Hang in the last 64. He lost 1âÂÂ4 to Barry Hawkins in the first round of the Champion of Champions invitational tournament, and in the last 64 of the minor-ranking Ruhr Open, he failed to score a single point on his way to a 0âÂÂ4 defeat by Marco Fu, who outscored Higgins by a cumulative total of 412 points to 0.
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. However, he defeated Lee Walker 6âÂÂ2, Jamie Cope 6âÂÂ4 and Matthew Stevens 6âÂÂ2 to reach the last 16, where he lost 5âÂÂ6 to Anthony McGill. This was enough to keep him inside the top 16, at number 14. At the Masters, he faced Mark Allen in the first round. Even though he made three century breaks, Higgins lost the match 4âÂÂ6. After the match, he said that "I feel my form is steadily coming back â even when I've been losing matches I have still been gaining nuggets of confidence and I thought I played pretty well again."
In the 2015 German Masters, Higgins lost 2âÂÂ5 to Peter Ebdon in the first round, but he at the Welsh Open, he defeated Stephen Maguire 5âÂÂ1 in the quarter-finals, Luca Brecel 6âÂÂ4 in the semi-finals and Ben Woollaston 9âÂÂ3 in the final to claim a fourth Welsh Open title, his first ranking title in two and a half years. In the last 16 of the 2015 Indian Open, he suffered a sixth consecutive defeat to Mark Davis when he lost 0âÂÂ4, scoring only 38 points in the match. He lost 3âÂÂ4 to Graeme Dott in the last 32 of the World Grand Prix and lost by the same scoreline to Stephen Maguire in the last 32 of the Players Championship Grand Final. In the China Open, he reached the quarter-finals, defeating Dott and Trump along the way, but lost 4âÂÂ5 to Ding Junhui. At the 2015 World Snooker Championship, Higgins won his first match at the event since 2012 with a 10âÂÂ5 first round victory over Robert Milkins, but he lost 9âÂÂ13 to Ding Junhui in the second round, despite winning five of the first six frames.
Higgins won his 27th ranking title at the 2015 Australian Goldfields Open by beating Martin Gould 9âÂÂ8 in the final. Later that year, he also defeated David Gilbert 10âÂÂ5 in the final of the 2015 International Championship. This put Higgins level with Steve Davis in the list of total ranking events won. Higgins started his quarter-final with Neil Robertson at the 2015 UK Championship by making the 600th century break of his career, but lost the match 5âÂÂ6. Higgins reached the semi-finals of the China Open, but lost 5âÂÂ6 after Ricky Walden made a 131 break in the deciding frame. He defeated Ryan Day 10âÂÂ3 and Walden 13âÂÂ8 at the 2016 World Snooker Championship, but lost 13âÂÂ11 to Alan McManus in the quarter-finals, having been 11âÂÂ9 ahead. He said later that he had "cracked under pressure".
Higgins lost in the quarter-finals of both the 2016 English Open and International Championship, 5âÂÂ1 to Judd Trump and 6âÂÂ2 to Ding Junhui respectively. He faced Stuart Bingham in the final of the inaugural China Championship; with the scores tied at 7âÂÂ7, Higgins made three successive centuries to claim the title and ã200,000, which was, at the time, the highest prize awarded outside the United Kingdom. At the 2016 Champion of Champions, he defeated Ding 6âÂÂ5 in the semi-finals despite Ding making four centuries in the match. Higgins defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10âÂÂ7 in the final to win his second title in a week. In the second round of the 2016 Northern Ireland Open, he made the eighth maximum break of his career and also scored breaks of 137 and 130 in a 4âÂÂ1 victory over Sam Craigie. He lost a deciding frame to Selby in the quarter-finals of the 2016 UK Championship. He closed out 2016 by beating O'Sullivan 5âÂÂ2 in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open and then came back from 5âÂÂ1 down to Judd Trump to win the semi-final 6âÂÂ5. In the final against Marco Fu, he made three centuries in moving 4âÂÂ1 ahead, but then lost eight frames in a row to lose 4âÂÂ9. Higgins won the non-ranking Championship League by beating Ryan Day 3âÂÂ0 in the final.
At the 2017 World Snooker Championship, Higgins reached his first world final in six years. He became, aged 41, the oldest finalist in 35 years. In a rematch of the 2007 final, he faced Mark Selby. Higgins took a 10âÂÂ4 lead, but then lost 12 of the next 14 frames, eventually losing 15âÂÂ18.
He won the 2017 Indian Open, defeating Anthony McGill 5âÂÂ1 in the final. The following year, he won his thirtieth ranking event at the 2018 Welsh Open, defeating Barry Hawkins 9âÂÂ7 in the final. Higgins also reached the final of the 2018 World Snooker Championship, but lost again to Mark Williams. At the 2019 World Snooker Championship Higgins reached the final again, only to be beaten 18âÂÂ9 by Judd Trump. This was Higgins' third consecutive World Championship final and his eighth overall.
Higgins surpassed Stephen Hendry's career total of 775 centuries during the 2019 Scottish Open. He made his 775th century on 11 December during his match against Alexander Ursenbacher and his 776th against Jack Lisowski the following day. Higgins made his 800th career century on the first day of the 2020 Champion of Champions, although he lost the match to Ding Junhui.
In the 2020âÂÂ21 season, Higgins reached his first Masters final since 2006 after beating Allen, O'Sullivan and David Gilbert. However, he was defeated by tournament debutant Yan Bingtao 8âÂÂ10 in the final. On 28 February 2021, 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. After his win, Higgins said that was "the best week of [his] snooker career" in terms of the way he played. In his quarter-final against Mark Selby, Higgins outscored his opponent 546âÂÂ7 in a 6âÂÂ0 victory. After the match, Selby stated that, "I've never had a match where I had so few chances. John froze me out from start to finish, he played an incredible match."
Before the beginning of the 2021âÂÂ22 snooker season, Higgins lost a significant amount of weight by taking spin classes. He weighed stones (217 lbs or 98.5 kg) during the 2021 World Championship, but began the new season at 12 stones (168 lbs or 76 kg). At the 2021 Northern Ireland Open, he won six consecutive frames to defeat Yan Bingtao 6âÂÂ2 in the semi-finals, but lost the final 8âÂÂ9 to Mark Allen, despite having led 8âÂÂ6. At the 2021 English Open, Higgins came from 3âÂÂ5 behind in the semi-finals to defeat O'Sullivan 6âÂÂ5, but he lost the final 8âÂÂ9 to Neil Robertson, despite again having led 8âÂÂ6. This defeat meant that Higgins had lost six of his previous seven major finals. In his post-match comments, he expressed doubt about his ability to compete in ranking finals, stating: "The last two finals I really do think show I've not really got it at this level." Higgins went on to lose the 2021 Champion of Champions final 4âÂÂ10 to Trump, and the 2021 Scottish Open final 5âÂÂ9 to Luca Brecel. Even though he lost in the round of 32 at the Gibraltar Open, he won the BetVictor Series bonus of ã150,000 by winning the most prize money across the series as a whole. At the 2022 Tour Championship, he came from 4âÂÂ8 behind to defeat Zhao Xintong 10âÂÂ9 in the quarter-finals, a victory he called one of his "best ever wins", and went on to face Robertson in the final. Higgins established a 9âÂÂ4 lead, but lost his fifth major final of the season after Robertson won six consecutive frames to win 10âÂÂ9. Afterwards, Higgins admitted that losing the final from a position of being five frames up with six to play would leave "real mental scars". At the 2022 World Championship, Higgins won his quarter-final match against Jack Lisowski on a deciding frame, but lost 11âÂÂ17 in the semi-finals to eventual champion O'Sullivan, finishing the season ranked fifth in the world.
Higgins reached the quarter-final of the 2024 World Championship with a 1312 win over Allen in the last 16. He then played Kyren Wilson but fell to an 813 defeat. In September 2024, Higgins made his 1000th career century at the English Open to become just the second player after O'Sullivan to achieve this feat. Higgins was runner-up at the 2024 British Open, losing to Mark Selby 5âÂÂ10 in the final. Despite defeat, Higgins returned into the top 16 of the world rankings, having dropped out the previous week for the first time since 1995. At the 2025 Masters, Higgins held a 51 lead over Neil Robertson in their first round match but Robertson then won five consecutive frames to win 56. At the World Open, Higgins won his thirty second ranking event with a 106 win over Joe O'Connor in the final. It was Higgins first title for four years, and at forty nine years of age Higgins also became the oldest player to win a ranking title since Ray Reardon in 1982. Higgins won his second title of the 202425 season at the Tour Champiosnhip. He fought back from 58 down to win five consecutive frames and defeat Mark Selby 108. Higgins reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 World Championship where he faced Mark Williams. Higgins fought back from 812 behind to force a deciding frame, but a miss on the final blue proved pivotal, and Higgins exited the tournament 1213.
In November, Higgins reached the final of the International Championship where he was defeated by Wu Yize 610. In January, at the Masters, he became the oldest player to ever reach the final of a triple crown event with his route to the final including wins over Zhao Xintong and Trump. In the final, he lost to Kyren Wilson 610. He also reached the final of the Players Championship where he lost 710 to Zhao Xintong.
In 2000, 25-year-old Higgins married his childhood sweetheart, 24-year-old Denise (née Whitton). They have three children together, two sons and a daughter. Higgins is a supporter of Celtic F.C. and also follows English club Everton. He enjoys playing poker. In 2006, 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. Higgins was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.
In January 2010, Higgins appeared on the BBC's Celebrity Mastermind, answering questions on his specialist subject Dallas. He finished third equal. In February of that year, Higgins and his wife Denise appeared on ITV's Mr. and Mrs. and reached the final after answering all of their questions correctly to win ã30,000. They donated the money to The Dalziel Centre â a day hospice for cancer patients, based at Strathclyde Hospital in Motherwell, of which Higgins became a patron after they cared for his terminally ill father.
In a complex mathematical study conducted at the University of Limerick, Higgins was named the highest performing snooker player from 1968 to 2020, ahead of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams and Stephen Hendry.
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