John Higgins, a Scottish professional snooker player, has won 19 titles over a career that spans 19 years. His career has also brought him a significant amount of wealth.
Higgins began his professional snooker playing as an amateur. He was an amateur snooker player who had won several tournaments before becoming a professional. 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 during the 1994/95 season. He won two other ranking tournaments and a ranking semifinal. He then became World number one for the first time. 1998 marked his first major title. Ronnie O'Sullivan lost the World Championship final to him in 2001. He also reached the Grand Prix final. He finished the season at World number 1.
Higgins was the one who batting Ronnie O'Sullivan at the final of The Masters during 2006. He also won the Welsh Open and Scottish Masters. His fourth British Open title was in 2004. He reached the finals of the European Championship in 2005. He was also a finalist of the Championship du monde. In 2011, he was awarded his second World Championship. He was also a finalist in the Chinese Open and Shanghai Masters. He reached the final of both the International Open as well as the World Championship in 2009. He also won the Ruhr Championship. In the 2009 season, he was the World number one.
Higgins also reached the final of several non-ranking competitions. Higgins has reached the final of several pro-am tournaments as well as variant finals. He became the first player in history to win three of the opening tournaments within a single season.
During his career, John Higgins has reached the final of eight World Championship tournaments. He also reached the finals in two Masters tournaments: a UK Championship and a Welsh Open. He has been an 18-time runner-up.
Higgins's 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 detective chief supervisor, was the head of the disciplinary committee that investigated these allegations. The investigation determined that Higgins didn't have any involvement in this scandal. Higgins, however, was removed from professional competition after six months. He was also fined PS75,000.
After his suspension, Higgins resumed his professional career in November 2010. He reached the finals at the Shanghai Masters and Ruhr Championship. He also reached the finals of two other championships during 2005/06. He was fifth in the World at the conclusion of the season. 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.