John Higgins: Difference between revisions
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Since the story first broke in the ''News of The World'' on 2 May 2010, there have been serious doubts over the veracity and context of the newspaper's claims |
Since the story first broke in the ''News of The World'' on 2 May 2010, there have been serious doubts over the veracity and context of the newspaper's claims.<ref>http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/07/26/exclusive-john-higgins-to-face-%E2%80%98match-fix%E2%80%99-hearing-in-september-amid-confusion-over-evidence-as-newspaper-requests-he-doesn%E2%80%99t-sue-260701/</ref> |
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==Status== |
==Status== |
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Revision as of 17:47, 26 August 2010
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| Nickname | The Wizard of Wishaw[1] |
|---|---|
| Professional | 1992–present |
| Highest ranking | 1 (3 years 5 months) |
| Current ranking | 16 (as of 8 September 2024) |
| Century breaks | 998 (as of 14 September 2024) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 21 |
| World Champion | 1998, 2007, 2009 |
John Higgins, MBE (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won a total of 21 ranking titles, including the World Snooker Championship on three occasions, in 1998, 2007, and 2009. Since the 1996–97 season, he has never been ranked lower than sixth in the world, and has been ranked the world's number one player on four occasions. Although he is the world's provisional number one for the 2010–11 season, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association suspended him from tournament play on 2 May 2010, pending an investigation into match fixing allegations made by the News of the World tabloid newspaper.
Career
Early years
Higgins was born in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire. He turned professional in 1992, and won his first tournament in 1994 when he defeated Dave Harold 9–6 in the final of the Grand Prix. The British and International Open titles followed in 1995, making him the first teenager to win three ranking events in a season (1994/95).
In 1998, Higgins approached the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, knowing that in order to become world number one he had to win the championship and hope that Stephen Hendry would be defeated in his opening match. This proved to be the case, as Hendry lost in round one to Jimmy White, and Higgins went on to beat Jason Ferguson, Anthony Hamilton, John Parrott and Ronnie O'Sullivan, before overcoming defending champion Ken Doherty 18–12 in the final. In the process, he made a then-record 14 centuries in a tournament (Stephen Hendry later eclipsed this milestone at the World Championship in 2002 with 16 centuries).
After the first world title
During the 1998/99 season, Higgins won the UK Championship and Masters with 10–6 and 10–8 defeats of Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty, respectively, to become only the third player after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to hold the World, UK and Masters titles simultaneously (Mark Williams later joined this elite group). In addition, he is one of just five players to have claimed both the World and UK Championship in the same calendar year (1998); the others are Steve Davis, Hendry, Parrott and O'Sullivan.
Higgins was to remain at the top of the rankings for two years, with a 9–8 victory over Mark Williams in the 1999 Grand Prix final serving to consolidate his position. Although Higgins earned a second UK Championship title in 2000, again defeating Williams in the final (this time by a margin of 10–4), the end of the 2000/01 season saw Williams replace Higgins at the head of the World Snooker rankings.
At the beginning of the 2001/02 season, Higgins became the first player to win the opening three tournaments of a season: the Champions Cup, Scottish Masters (both invitational events), and the British Open. He reached the World Championship final again in 2001, but lost 14–18 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Higgins then endured a three-year drought without a major title until his fourth British Open triumph in 2004. This lapse in form coincided with becoming a father for the first time in 2001.
In the 2005 Grand Prix final, Higgins beat O'Sullivan 9–2. In doing so, he became the first player to record four consecutive centuries in a ranking tournament, with breaks of 103, 104, 138 and 128 in frames 7 to 10. Higgins scored 494 points without reply, which was then a record (Ding Junhui managed 495 points against Stephen Hendry in the 2007 Premier League Snooker).[3] Higgins and O'Sullivan met again in the 2006 Masters final in Wembley, London, but this occasion proved to a more even affair. After losing the first three frames, Higgins recovered to win the next five, establishing a lead of 5–3 after the first session. O'Sullivan restored parity in the evening session, and both players traded blow for blow to set up a final frame decider. On a break of 60, O'Sullivan missed a red to a baulk pocket, and Higgins made a clearance of 64 to claim the title. Losing to Mark Selby in the first round of the World Championship did not prevent him from returning to a top four ranking position at the end of the season.
Recent years
In 2007, Higgins secured victories over Michael Holt, Fergal O'Brien, Ronnie O'Sullivan, and Stephen Maguire en route to his first World Championship final in six years. His break of 122 in the 29th frame of his semi-final against Maguire, on recovering from a deficit of 10–14 going into the final session to prevail 17–15, was the 1,000th century to be made at the Crucible Theatre since the World Championship was first staged there in 1977. Higgins went on to defeat Mark Selby 18–13 in the final to claim the World title for a second time and regain world number one status. He had held a 12–4 advantage overnight, but Selby reduced his arrears to trail by only 14–13 on the second day before Higgins rediscovered his form to win four consecutive frames. This included a 57 clearance in frame 29 after Selby – leading 43–0, had overcut the pink to a middle pocket, and a 129 and 78 break in the two subsequent frames to close out the match at 12:54 a.m., which is the latest-ever finish to a World final.[4]
Higgins reached the quarter-final stages in only the Welsh and China Open tournaments in his reign as World Champion. He also actively promoted the World Series of Snooker,[5] a tour developed in an effort to introduce snooker to new venues outside the traditional United Kingdom and recently developed Far East markets. He won the inaugural event in St. Helier, Jersey, in June 2008, beating Mark Selby 6–3 in the final. Higgins also devised a new players’ union with his manager Pat Mooney, called The Snooker Players Association.
In the 2008/09 season, Higgins captured the Grand Prix title for the fourth time, resisting a late comeback by Ryan Day in the final to triumph 9–7. Taking place in Glasgow, this was his first ranking tournament win on home soil. In the World Championship, Higgins beat Michael Holt 10–5 in the first round. His second-round and quarter-final matches against Jamie Cope and Mark Selby both went the full distance of 25 frames, with Higgins needing to overcome a 10–12 deficit against Cope and an 11–12 deficit against Selby to win both matches 13–12. After establishing a 13–3 lead over Mark Allen in the semi-final, he weathered a brave comeback effort by the young Northern Irish player to win the match 17–13. In fourth World Championship final appearance of his career, he met Shaun Murphy. The first session ended all-square at 4–4, but Higgins won the second session by 7 frames to 1, giving himself an 11–5 overnight lead. He went on to record an emphatic 18–9 victory over Murphy.
In the 2009/10 season, he reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters and the Grand Prix, but he lost 1–6 against Ronnie O'Sullivan and 5–6 against Neil Robertson respectively. In the UK Championship, he reached the final after defeating Ricky Walden (9–7), Neil Robertson (9–8), Liang Wenbo (9–2) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (9–8) [6]. But he lost in the final 8–10 against Ding Junhui. He lost in the first round of the Masters against Mark Allen (3–6)[7]. He reached the final of the Welsh Open after defeating Michael Judge (5–2), Graeme Dott (5–1), Mark Selby (5–2) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (6–4), where he defeated Ali Carter 9–4 to win his 21st ranking title.[8] In the last two ranking events of the season (China Open and World Championship) he lost in the second round against Mark Williams 2–5 and Steve Davis 11–13 respectively.[9]
Suspension
In April 2010 Higgins and his manager, Pat Mooney, a World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) board member, were filmed in a sting operation conducted by the News of the World newspaper. It allegedly showed Higgins and Mooney discussing and agreeing to influence snooker games in exchange for payment.[10][11]
The sting, which was elaborately planned,[12] occurred on the morning of 30 April in a hotel room in Kiev in Ukraine, where Higgins and his manager had travelled to meet men interested in organising a series of events linked to the World Series of Snooker. Higgins had suffered a surprise defeat in the second round of the 2010 World Championship earlier that week. They were in fact met by an undercover News of the World team posing as businessmen.[11] The newspaper alleged that they had discussed the "subject of match fixing" in previous meetings with Mooney, and when the reporters broached the subject of fixing frames, that Higgins and Mooney had agreed to throw four frames in four separate tournaments in exchange for a €300,000 total payment, and further discussed the mechanics of how to fix a frame, which tournaments and opponents to choose, and how to transfer the money to Higgins."[11]
Following the publication of the story on 2 May, Barry Hearn, Chairman of the WPBSA announced Higgins' immediate suspension. Hearn promised a full investigation, stating "Those responsible, if proved, will be dealt with in a very harsh and brutal way. People have a right to see pure sport – that's what I want snooker to be.", adding "While we are not saying John Higgins is guilty of anything, we feel the revelations are such that he has a case to answer." Mooney resigned from his position on the WPBSA board.[13][14] Higgins issued a statement on the same day denying he had ever been involved in match fixing, and said of the meeting, "I didn't know if this was the Russian mafia or who we were dealing with. At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Russia".[15] Mooney also said "we were genuinely in fear for our safety".[13]
Since the story first broke in the News of The World on 2 May 2010, there have been serious doubts over the veracity and context of the newspaper's claims.[16]
Status
Higgins has won a total of 21 ranking titles thus far in his career and has compiled over 400 competitive centuries to date[17], including five 147 breaks[2] – two of which came in successive matches: the LG Cup final in 2003, and the first round of the next tournament, the British Open.
In winning the 2009 World Championship, Higgins became only the ninth player to lift the trophy more than twice, after Joe Davis, Fred Davis, John Pulman, John Spencer, Ray Reardon, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan. He also joined Steve Davis, Hendry and O'Sullivan as the only players to have won three or more titles at the Crucible Theatre. The 26th frame of the final was Higgins’ 1,000th competitive frame at the venue. His success elevated him to fourth position in the end of season rankings.[18][19] Lifting the trophy two weeks before his 34th birthday, Higgins also became the oldest player to win the title since Dennis Taylor's victory in 1985 at the age of 36.
Personal life
Higgins married Denise in 2000; they have three children together: sons Pierce and Oliver, and daughter Claudia. He is a dedicated supporter of Celtic FC and frequently attends the team's matches. He enjoys playing poker.[20] He was escorted off a plane for being drunk in 2006 after losing the Malta Cup final to Ken Doherty, but became teetotal in preparation for the 2007 World Championship.[21]
Higgins was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (the MBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.[22]
In January 2010, Higgins appeared on the BBC's Celebrity Mastermind, answering questions on his specialist subject Dallas.
In February 2010, Higgins and his wife Denise appeared on ITV's Mr. and Mrs. and went through to the final after answering 9 questions correctly out of 9, to win £30,000 for charity. [23]
