John Higgins
Alex Higgins
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
John Higgins leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places John Higgins at #5 and Alex Higgins at #11.
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The case for John Higgins
The finest all-round technician of the modern era and the most durable competitor of a remarkable generation. Higgins won world titles in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011 and reached eight world finals in total, including three consecutive losing finals in 2017, 2018 and 2019, two of them decided in the final frame. He has more than 30 ranking titles, three UK Championships, two Masters and nine Triple Crown titles, and has compiled more than 900 career centuries. What sets him apart is completeness: he is regarded across the tour as the best safety player of his generation while also being capable of clearing from behind under maximum pressure, most famously in the deciding frames of his later Crucible finals. Turning professional in 1992 alongside Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams, he was still winning ranking events past 45 and still competing at the top of the tour in his fifties.
The case for Alex Higgins
The player whose record understates his importance more than anyone's. Higgins won the world title in 1972 at 22, then the youngest champion, having qualified from the amateur ranks in his first professional season, and won it again a decade later in 1982, when he called his wife and daughter to the table in tears — the most replayed image in the sport. He reached four world finals, won the UK Championship in 1983 and the Masters in 1978 and 1981, giving him five Triple Crown titles. The 69 break he made against Jimmy White from a hopeless position in the 1982 semi-final is still cited as the finest clearance under pressure ever played. Nicknamed Hurricane for his speed, he brought crowds and controversy in equal measure and made snooker a spectacle rather than a pastime, at enormous personal cost. He died in 2010 at 61.