Andrew Higginson

Andrew Higginson

Higginson at the 2013 German Masters
Born (1977-12-13) 13 December 1977
Cheshire
Sport country England
Nickname Widnes Warrior
Professional 1996–1999, 2000–2004, 2006–
Highest ranking 18 (October–November 2011 and May–July 2012)[1][2][3][4]
Current ranking 50 (as of 1 December 2015)
Career winnings £508,357[5]
Highest break 147 (2007 Welsh Open)
Century breaks 112[6]
Best ranking finish Runner-up (2007 Welsh Open)
Tournament wins
Minor-ranking 1
Non-ranking 1

Andrew Higginson (born 13 December 1977, Cheshire, England) is an English professional snooker player, currently living in Widnes. He is best known for reaching the final of the 2007 Welsh Open as a virtual unknown.

Career

Early years

After some success in amateur tournaments, he turned professional for the 2000/2001 season after finishing third on the Challenge Tour. He remained there for five seasons before dropping off, after encountering limited success. He won a place back on the tour for 2006/2007 after finishing second on the Pontins' International Open Series.

Breakthrough

Higginson reached the televised stages of a ranking tournament for the first time at the 2007 Malta Cup, where he beat Steve Davis 5–4 before losing 2–5 to Ken Doherty at the last 16. At the very next tournament, the 2007 Welsh Open, Higginson hit an extraordinary run of form, defeating Marco Fu 5–2, John Higgins 5–3 (from 0–3 down), Michael Judge 5–1, Ali Carter 5–1 (making his first professional 147 break[7] in the process) and Stephen Maguire 6–3 to reach the final. As he had spent the 2005/2006 season on the secondary Challenge Tour, he was the first unranked player to reach a ranking final since Terry Griffiths won the World title in 1979. At the end of the first session of the final, he trailed 2–6 to Neil Robertson. In the second session, Higginson managed to take the lead and change the score to 8–6, but Robertson recovered to level the scores at 8–8 and force a deciding frame, which he won.[8] Higginson earned £20,000 for his 147 break, £2000 for the highest break and £17,500 for being the runner-up.

Subsequent career

Despite his good season, Higginson failed to qualify for the 2007 World Championship, losing 9–10 to Ricky Walden in the third qualifying round. His performance in the Welsh Open and Malta Cup brought him to 44th in the 2007/2008 rankings, and 24th on the one-year list.

The following season proved tougher, with Higginson only qualifying for one event – the 2008 Welsh Open again.[9]

However, he qualified for the 2008 Grand Prix, losing 0–5 to Mark Selby in the last 32.[10] He then beat Jamie Jones and Michael Judge to make his Crucible debut in the 2009 World Championship,[11] giving eventual finalist Shaun Murphy a test, leading 7–6[12] before losing 8–10.[13]

2011/12

Higginson won his first professional title during the 2011/2012 season at the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship Event 5, where he beat reigning world champion John Higgins 4–1 in the final.[14] He played in all 12 of the PTC events and finished 6th on the Order of Merit, comfortably inside the top 24 who qualified for the Finals.[15] At the Finals he beat Jamie Jones and Xiao Guodong, before losing to Stephen Lee 2–4 in the semi-finals.[16]

He qualified for all but three of the other ranking events during the season.[16] In the German Masters he led Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–0 in their best-of-nine frames first round match, before being defeated 5–4 having missed a pot in the sixth frame that would have left O'Sullivan requiring snookers to stay in the tournament.[17] He finished the season by reaching the last 16 of the World Championship after defeating Stephen Lee 10–6 in the first round.[16] There he trailed Jamie Jones 6–10 after two sessions, but rallied to level at 10–10, before Jones won three successive frames to take the match 13–10.[18] Higginson finished the season ranked world number 18, meaning he had climbed 7 places during the year.[19]

Andrew Higginson at the 2013 German Masters.

2012/13

Due to non-entries among the top 16 players, Higginson was automatically seeded into the venue stages of first two major ranking events of the 2012/2013 season, Wuxi Classic and Australian Open, only to be beaten on both occasions by Robert Milkins and Ryan Day respectively. He was then whitewashed by Steve Davis in the qualifying for Shanghai Masters, making it three consecutive first round defeats for him. Higginson broke the streak by beating David Gilbert to reach the main draw of the International Championship, but was beaten 0–6 by Shaun Murphy in the first round at the venue in Chengdu, China.[20] He suffered yet another whitewash in UK Championship qualifying, losing 0–6 to Liang Wenbo, and as a result fell to No. 29 in the world rankings. Higginson enjoyed more success in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events, reaching the semi-finals in Event One[21] and European Tour Event Five;[22] in the latter tournament he lost 3–4 to Anthony McGill on a respotted black, despite having been 3–1 ahead at one point and his opponent having needed two snookers in the decider. Higginson went on to finish 13th on the PTC Order of Merit to qualify for the Grand Final for the third year in a row.

Higginson's form improved in the second half of the season as he qualified for five of the six remaining ranking tournaments of the season. His best results were last 16 appearances at the German Masters and the Welsh Open: in Germany he beat Stuart Bingham 5–1 before losing by the same scoreline to Neil Robertson, and in Wales he beat Michael Wasley 4–2 before losing 1–4 to Judd Trump.[20] At the PTC Finals Higginson was leading eventual tournament winner Ding Junhui 3–1 in the first round, before losing 3–4.[23] His season however ended in disappointment as he was beaten 4–10 by Michael White in the final round of World Championship Qualifying, to finish it ranked world number 22.[24][25]

2013/14

Higginson beat Steve Davis 5–1 in the first round of the 2013 Wuxi Classic, before losing 5–2 against Peter Lines.[26] He was defeated in the qualifying round for the Australian Goldfields Open and, despite another win over Davis to qualify, was beaten 5–4 in the wildcard round of the Shanghai Masters by Lin Shuai. Higginson exited the Indian Open in the last 32 and the UK Championship in the last 64.[26] Higginson won two matches in a ranking event for the only time this season at the Welsh Open with victories over Martin O'Donnell and Jimmy Robertson, before Scott Donaldson came from 3–2 down to eliminate him 4–3.[27] Higginson had a very poor season in the eight European Tour events as his best finishes were four last 64 defeats to be placed a lowly 79th on the Order of Merit.[28] He came within a match of qualifying for the World Championship, but lost 10–6 to Dominic Dale.[29] Higginson fell 14 places and outside the top 32 in the rankings during they year to end it 36th in the world.[30]

2014/15

At the Australian Goldfields Open, Higginson was defeated 5–2 by home favourite Neil Robertson in the first round. He won three games to qualify for the Shanghai Masters, but was knocked out in the opening round 5–3 by Mark Allen. A further first round exit followed in the International Championship at the hands of Joe Swail, before Higginson won his first match at the venue stage of a ranking event this season by beating Tian Pengfei 6–3 at the UK Championship. He was eliminated in the second round 6–4 by James Cahill.[31] Higginson qualified for the China Open, but lost 5–3 to Judd Trump in the first round.[32] He reached the final qualifying round for the World Championship thanks to wins over Scott Donaldson and Luca Brecel, and forced a deciding frame from 9–6 against Robert Milkins which he lost. The defeat meant that Higginson has failed to advance beyond the last 32 of any ranking event in over two years.[33] His decline in the rankings continued as he ended the season 48th in the world.[34]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournaments 2006/
07		 2007/
08		 2008/
09		 2009/
10		 2010/
11		 2011/
12		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16
Rankings[35][nb 1] UR[nb 2] 44 38 43 32 25 18 22 36 48
Ranking tournaments
Australian Goldfields Open Not Held 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R
Shanghai Masters Not Held LQ LQ WR 2R 1R LQ WR 1R LQ
International Championship Not Held 1R LQ 1R 1R
UK Championship LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R LQ LQ 2R 2R 1R
German Masters Not Held 1R 1R 2R 1R LQ LQ
Welsh Open F 2R LQ 2R LQ LQ 2R 3R 1R
World Grand Prix[nb 3] LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R 1R WR 2R NH
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 4] Not Held 2R SF 1R DNQ DNQ
China Open LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ 1R
World Championship LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Championship League Not Held A A A RR RR RR RR A A
General Cup [nb 5] Not Held A NH A A RR A A
Variant format tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 6] Not Held A A A NH 1R 1R A A
Shoot-Out Not Held 2R 1R QF QF 1R QF
Former ranking tournaments
Malta Cup 2R NR Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy LQ LQ 2R Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 7] Not Held Non-Ranking Event 1R 2R LQ NH
Indian Open Not Held 2R LQ NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)		 QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ↑ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ↑ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
  3. ↑ The event was called the Grand Prix (2006/2007–2009/2010), the World Open (2010/2011) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  4. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
  5. ↑ The event was called the General Cup International (2009/2010–2011/2012)
  6. ↑ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
  7. ↑ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)

Career finals

Ranking event finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
World Championship (0–0)
UK Championship (0–0)
Other (0–1)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2007 Welsh Open Australia Robertson, NeilNeil Robertson 8–9

Minor-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2011 Players Tour Championship – Event 5 Scotland John Higgins 4–1

Non-ranking event finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1999 UK Tour - Event 2 Scotland Scott MacKenzie 6–3

Amateur events

References

  1. ↑ "Issued after the Players Tour Championship 2011 – Event 7" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Issued after the Players Tour Championship 2011 – Event 8" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "Issued after the Players Tour Championship 2011 – Event 9" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Official World Snooker Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "Career-total Statistics for Andrew Higginson - Professional". CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Centuries". Pro Snooker Blog. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Yahoo! Sport. 2009. Andrew Higginson. [Online] Eurosport UK (Updated 2010) Available at: http://uk.yahoo.eurosport.com/snooker/person_prs112770.shtml [Accessed 17 February 2010].
  8. ↑ Robertson wins epic Welsh final
  9. ↑ Higginson seeks unlikely repeat (Archive)
  10. ↑ Mark Selby breezes past Andrew Higginson
  11. ↑ Andrew Higginson profile
  12. ↑ West Bank star Andrew Higginson beaten by 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy on Crucible debut
  13. ↑ Murphy overcomes health and wife fears to set up Fu showdown
  14. ↑ "Andrew Higginson beats John Higgins to land first professional tour title". Runcorn & Widnes Weekly News. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  15. ↑ "Order of Merit". Snooker.org. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  16. 1 2 3 "Andrew Higginson 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  17. ↑ "Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Andrew Higginson in German Masters". BBC Sport. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  18. ↑ "Widnes snooker star Andrew Higginson disappointed after losing to Jamie Jones in the Betfred.com World Championship second round". Liverpool Echo. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  19. ↑ "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  20. 1 2 Andrew Higginson 2012/2013, Snooker.org
  21. ↑ "Players Tour Championship Event One". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  22. ↑ "Betfair European Tour Event Five". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  23. ↑ "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  24. ↑ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  25. ↑ "Official World Snooker Ranking List for the 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Andrew Higginson 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  27. ↑ "Wenbo Stuns Murphy In Wales". World Snooker. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  28. ↑ "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  29. ↑ "Dott / Williams / Stevens Miss Crucible". World Snooker. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  30. ↑ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  31. ↑ "Andrew Higginson 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  32. ↑ "Snooker - Mark Selby overcomes Mark Joyce despite neck pain". Eurosport. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  33. ↑ "Robert Milkins will play John Higgins in World Snooker Championships". Gloucester Citizen. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  34. ↑ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  35. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

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