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John Higgins is the world's number one snooker player and only 12 months ago he was crowned world champion at the Crucible arena to join an elite group of players to win the famous trophy on three occasions.
Only Stephen Hendry (seven times), Steve Davis (six times) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (three times) can boast a haul of more than two world titles.
It was a victory that came two weeks before his 34th birthday, as he became the oldest player to win the title since Dennis Taylor's victory in 1985 at the age of 36.
All of Higgins' battling qualities were on show during the 17-day tournament in 2009 as he resisted a Mark Allen fightback in the semi-finals. The Northern Ireland star had trailed 14-4 to get within three frames before losing to Higgins 17-13.
Higgins admitted afterwards: "I had some crazy thoughts going on in my head about coming into the press conference having lost 17-16 and announcing my retirement." The gritty Scot had been highly fancied to pick up his fourth world title this year until a 52-year-old Davis produced the shock of the tournament to knock him out in the second round.
Davis recently described Higgins as "possibly the most complete all-round player the game has ever seen".
The 34-year-old - nicknamed the Wizard of Wishaw - has won 21 ranking titles, made five maximum 147 breaks in tournaments and hit 436 career centuries.
And following an impressive 15 months on the baize he has toppled Ronnie O'Sullivan as snooker's number one ranked player.
The run began at last season's China Open where he was runner-up, before he went on to reach at least the semi-finals of the next five consecutive ranking tournaments, winning the world title and Welsh Open along the way.
The man from Wishaw, North Lanarkshire turned professional in 1992 and won his first tournament in 1994 when he picked up the Grand Prix trophy. The success continued and a year later, he won the International Open, British Open and German Open.
Higgins first became the world's number one ranked player in 1998 when he defeated defending champion Ken Doherty to win the World Championship for the first time and soon became the UK and Masters champion. He suffered defeat at the Crucible in 2001, losing to his nemesis O'Sullivan 18-12 in the final and had to wait another six years before tasting success in Sheffield's famous arena again to win the world trophy for a second time and regain the number one status.
Higgins beat Mark Selby 18-13 in the 2007 match which concluded at 0054 BST in the morning, which remains the latest finish in a World final.
His exploits in snooker were recognised in the New Years Honours list in 2008 when he was awarded the MBE.
It was the year he also captured the Grand Prix for the fourth time in Glasgow with a dramatic win over Welshman Ryan Day - the first time he had won a ranking tournament on Scottish soil.
Asked what motivated him to achieve more success in snooker, Higgins said: "I suppose it is vanity."
Snooker has recently seen a big decline in popularity as well as a reduction in playing opportunities and Higgins has championed the sport's cause around the world by setting up the World Series of Snooker alongside his manager Pat Mooney.
Recent tournaments have been hosted in European cities such as Berlin, Moscow and Warsaw.
Helping to promote the current World Championship alongside new snooker chief Barry Hearn in April, Higgins said: "Snooker has a buzz about it which we have not had for a long time and hopefully we can get more people involved in the game."
Away from the snooker table, Higgins is married to Denise and they have two boys and a girl.
The couple recently appeared on the TV show "All Star Mr and Mrs" to raise money for charity, with John also showing off his knowledge on the 1980s show "Dallas" on the BBC's Celebrity Mastermind.
He also supports Celtic football club and likes to cook in his spare time.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.