John Higgins

John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 21 ranking titles, including three World Championships (1998, 2007, 2009) and two UK Championships (1998, 2000), as well as three Masters titles (1999, 2006, 2013), making him one of the most successful players in the modern history of the sport.

In 2010, the News of the World tabloid newspaper carried out a sting operation in a hotel room in Ukraine, which claimed to show Higgins and his then-manager arranging to lose specific frames in future matches for money. Although an investigation cleared Higgins of match-fixing allegations, it found that he had brought the sport into disrepute by failing to report, and giving the impression of agreeing with, an invitation to breach the sport's betting rules. The WPBSA banned Higgins from professional competition for nine months and fined him £75,000. He returned to the tour at the beginning of the 2011/12 season.

Higgins dropped out of the top 16 during the 2010/11 season, and returned from his ban ranked 24th in August 2011. He re-entered the top 16 in February 2012. After his return, Higgins struggled for form but eventually rekindled it, reaching the final of the Championship League and the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 2012. He then went on to win his 20th ranking event title, beating Jamie Cope 9-6 to win the Australian Goldfields Open, and then his 21st, by beating Stephen Hendry 10-6 to win the 2012 British Open. Later on in the 2012/13 season, he won his third Masters title, defeating tournament favourite Neil Robertson 10-4 in the final.

He won his 22nd ranking event title during the 2015/16 season, by winning the 2015 International Championship. He then went on to win the 2015 Champions League of Snooker, beating tournament favourite Barry Hawkins in the final.