John Higgins Achieves Century Milestone Despite Loss

John Higgins became the second player in snooker history to reach 1,000 centuries achieving this milestone despite suffering a narrow 4-3 defeat to Mark Allen in the last 16 of the English Open. Ronnie O’Sullivan was the first to hit this landmark in 2019 while Higgins had 745 centuries at that time. In the match, the 49-year-old Higgins scored breaks of 108 and 109 to level the contest at 3-3.

However, Allen secured a tense final frame to claim victory in Brentwood. John Higgins a four-time world champion, boasts 13 maximum 147 breaks in his career again trailing only O’Sullivan in this regard. His first century came in the 1992-93 season, with his most prolific year being the 2021-22 campaign, during which he recorded 58 centuries.  In other matches, reigning English champion Judd Trump moved closer to the 1,000-century mark.

He achieved his 998th century in a 4-2 victory over Fan Zhengyi. Trump will face another Chinese player, Wu Yize in the quarter-finals.  Allen’s next opponent will be either Chris Wakelin or Pang Junxu while Mark Selby is set to compete against India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha, who made history as the first Indian player to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event in 11 years.

Chadha only joined the professional snooker tour at the start of the previous season after transitioning from being a professional gamer in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Neil Robertson awaits the winner of the match between Barry Hawkins and Kyren Wilson in the final quarter-final matchup.