John Higgins Becomes Second Player to Reach 1,000 Century Breaks in Snooker History
John Higgins has etched his name into snooker history as the second player to ever reach 1,000 career century breaks. The 49-year-old Scottish player achieved the milestone during a hard-fought 4-3 defeat to Mark Allen at the English Open.
Despite the loss, Higgins took pride in hitting this remarkable milestone, saying, "You have to be proud of that. I wanted to get there before Judd."
In the match against Allen, Higgins scored two century breaks, 108 and 109, levelling the score at 3-3 before Allen narrowly won the deciding frame. Although it ended in a loss, Higgins’ milestone was the highlight of the match. Reflecting on his journey, Higgins noted that his first century came in the 1992-93 season, and his most productive campaign was in 2021-22, where he hit 58 century breaks.
Higgins follows in the footsteps of Ronnie O’Sullivan, who was the first player to cross the 1,000 centuries mark back in 2019. O’Sullivan remains the leader in career centuries, but Higgins' achievement further cements his legacy in the sport.
With world number one Judd Trump sitting at 998 centuries, Higgins acknowledges that Trump will likely surpass both him and O’Sullivan in due time. Trump will face Wu Yize in the quarter-finals of the English Open, edging closer to becoming the third player in history to hit the 1,000 century mark.
Mark Allen, who ended Higgins’ run, now advances to face either Chris Wakelin or Pang Junxu in the next round. In other matches, Mark Selby will face India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha, the first Indian player to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event in over a decade. Chadha, a former professional gamer, made his way into the snooker scene recently, is proving to be an exciting addition to the tour.
