Bimillennial man John Higgins reaches record milestone at World Open

The four-time world champion reached the unprecedented feat on Tuesday at the 2026 World Open snooker ranking event in Yushan, China when he lined up against teenager Stan Moody in the round of 64.

However, in a contest where there was an age gap of 31 years between the two contestants, reigning champion Higgins’ title defence was ended by the youngster who scored one of his most impressive victories yet with a 5-4 deciding frame win.

Not the way Higgins would have wanted to celebrate his historic milestone of matches, but he can surely be bursting with pride when looking on a top-flight career that has spanned nearly 35 years, and shows little sign of slowing down in the near future.

Higgins turned professional in 1992, at a time when the authorities threw the game open to allcomers.

The Scot is one third of the fabled ‘Class of 92’ triumvirate alongside fellow snooker legends Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan, who also began their top tier careers during that long summer of qualifying gauntlets at the Norbreck Castle in Blackpool.

Fast forward to now, and all three are still ranked inside the world’s top 12, and have a combined total of 101 ranking titles between them.

The first of Higgins’ 33 world ranking titles (at time of writing) came at the 1994 Grand Prix in Derby when he defeated Dave Harold in the final. Later that same season, he also lifted trophies at the International Open and British Open, making him the first - and to date, only - teenager to have won three ranking crowns within the same term.

‘The Wizard of Wishaw’s’ first Triple Crown accolade was the sport’s biggest prize of all, when he defeated then-reigning champion Ken Doherty 18-12 in the final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield to become the world snooker champion.

That victory in Sheffield also saw Higgins displace fellow Scot Stephen Hendry at the top of the world rankings for the first time - Hendry had been there for a record 418 consecutive weeks.

In total, Higgins has had four different spells as the world number one, adding up to 197 weeks at the top of the tree.

For over 29 years, Higgins maintained a spot within the sport’s elite world top 16 rankings. That record streak was ended in September 2024 when he dropped out of the bracket, although his exodus only lasted a single week as a run to the final of the British Open pushed him back up into the 16 where he has stayed ever since.

Following his maiden world crown, Higgins went on to win the next UK Championship and Masters stagings, meaning he completed the ‘Career Triple Crown’, and held snooker’s three biggest titles at the same time - joining a very exclusive club.

On the modern-era list of players who have won the most Triple Crown titles, Higgins is placed fifth with nine (4 x World Championship, 3 x UK Championship, 2 x Masters).

In terms of break-building, Higgins is one of the best that the green baize has ever seen. He was the second player to have made 1,000 century breaks in professional competition - only Ronnie O’Sullivan had got there first - and he has completed 13 maximum 147 breaks, only behind O’Sullivan on the all-time list who has 17.

Higgins' remarkable career success and longevity has now rewarded him with a new feat in playing 2,000 matches as a professional.

He has won 1,387 of those (another record), a winning percentage of 69.35%.

Fellow 'Class of 92' graduate Williams is second on the list for most matches played with 1,899 (will hit 1,900 when he plays at the World Open later on Tuesday).

Despite his loss to youngster Moody at the World Open, 50-year-old Higgins has been in some very fine form over the past 12 months or so.

At last year’s World Open, he ended a four-year wait for a ranking title, and only a few weeks later he claimed the Tour Championship title for the first time.

Higgins is without silverware this season, although he has made two ranking event finals (International Championship, Players Championship) and was runner-up at the Masters.