John Higgins

 D.O.B. 18 May 1975




Lives Wishaw, Lanarkshire



Last 5 Seasons4-5-1-4-6



Turned Pro 1992



Ranking Tournament Victories 21 - 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; UK Championship 1998, 2000; China International 1999; Welsh Open 2000, 2010



Last season World Snooker Tour prize money

£152,370



Highest Tournament Break 147 – five times

Higgins showed a high level of consistency throughout the 2009/10 season, reaching at least the semi-finals of the first four ranking events.

Three of those ended in frustration, as he was beaten 6-1 by Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semis of the Roewe Shanghai Masters, 6-5 on the last black by Neil Robertson at the same stage of the Grand Prix, and 10-8 by Ding Junhui in a Pukka Pies UK Championship final in which Higgins missed the easiest of browns when poised to go 8-7 ahead.

However, he didn’t have to wait too long to get his hands on a major piece of silverware as he went all the way to the top prize at the totesport.com Welsh Open in Newport. Victories over Michael Judge, Graeme Dott, Mark Selby and O’Sullivan put him into the final, where he coasted to a 9-4 victory over Ali Carter to win his 21st ranking title, leaving him fourth on the all-time list and just one behind O’Sullivan, who has 22.

"I just want to win as many as I can," said Higgins. "I've always felt that ranking tournaments are the ones to go for so I'm just delighted to add another one. I'm feeling really confident at the moment and just taking it as it comes. I've had my time in the doldrums so when you are on a high you want to keep it going.

"I didn't enjoy losing the UK final so I was trying my hardest. I really didn't want to lose this one.”

Higgins was unable to add to his haul in the remainder of the season, and indeed finished the campaign with one of the most shocking defeats of his career as he lost 13-11 to 52-year-old Steve Davis in the second round of the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.

“My cueing was not great out there, I was snatching on everything,” Higgins admitted after the match. “I missed some crucial pots and the balls never forgive you. It's disappointing because last year I held myself together so well under pressure but this year I was just all over the place.”

The Scot had already done enough during the season to earn the official World No 1 position. However, on May 2, 2010, WPBSA announced that Higgins was suspended from all of its tournaments, pending the outcome of a disciplinary enquiry.

A year earlier, there was nothing but joy for Higgins at the Crucible as he won his third Betfred.com World Snooker Championship title.

The Wizard of Wishaw beat Michael Holt 10-5 and then came through 13-12 thrillers against Jamie Cope and Mark Selby. The drama during the battle with Cope was particularly intense as a fan fainted in the audience at the business end of the match, not once but twice, and the players had to return to their dressing rooms while treatment was administered.

In the semis he faced another explosive young star in Mark Allen, who gave Higgins the fright of his life by coming from 14-4 down to within three frames at 15-12. But again the Scot retained his composure to close out victory 17-13.

The final against Shaun Murphy turned out to be Higgins’ easiest match, especially after he had pulled away from 5-5 to lead 11-5 overnight. The closing stages seemed a formality as Higgins closed out an 18-9 triumph.

He became only the fourth player, after Hendry, Davis and O’Sullivan, to lift the famous trophy three time at the Crucible.

“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. “Take away the money, to join three of the best players that have ever lived, to win it three times here at the Crucible means everything to me.”

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 Selby 18-13.

With a superb tactical game to go alongside his break-building class, he is considered alongside Steve Davis as one of the best all-round players of the modern era.

In the 2006 Grand Prix final against O’Sullivan, Higgins rolled in four consecutive centuries and scored 494 unanswered points – both records. Later in the same season, the two met again in the Masters final at Wembley. 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.

Higgins’ 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.