John Higgins, a professional snooker player from Scotland, has won 19 titles in first ligue as well as cup of champions during a 19-year career. His career also netted him a large fortune.
Higgins started his professional snooker career as an amateur player. Before turning professional, he had won numerous amateur tournaments. Higgins became a professional and began winning ranking tournaments. Higgins also became the first person to win three ranking tourneys in one season.
Higgins' success continued into the 1994/95 seasons. He won two more ranking finals and one more tournament. He then became World number one for the first time. 1998 was his first major title. Ronnie O'Sullivan beat him to the World Championship Finale in 2001. He also reached the Grand Prix final. He was the World number one in the season.
Higgins defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan to win The Masters in 2006's final. He also won the Welsh Open title and the Scottish Masters. His fourth British Open title was won in 2004. He reached the final of European Championship 2005. He was also a finalist of the Championship du monde. In 2011, he won the second World Championship. He was also a finalist in the Chinese Open and Shanghai Masters. In 2009, he reached the final of the International Open and the World Championship. He won the Ruhr championship. In 2009, he was World number 1.
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 is a professional who has reached the final of eight World Championship tournaments. He reached the finals for two Masters tournaments, including a UK Championship tournament, a Welsh Open tournament, and a Grand Prix tournament. He has been a runner up 18 times.
Higgins' career was not without controversy. 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 concluded that Higgins wasn't involved in the scandal. Higgins was nevertheless suspended from professional competition for six month. He was also fined PS75,000.
Higgins resumed professional work in November 2010 following his suspension. He reached the final of the Ruhr Championship and the Shanghai Masters. He also reached the finals of two other championships during 2005/06. He finished the season ranked fifth in the world. Mark Williams from Wales succeeded 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.