John Higgins (snooker player) title, which prompted Steve Davis to comment "I think John Higgins is the best snooker player I've ever seen in my life". Despite the victory, Higgins lost the world number one ranking to Mark Williams. Higgins had a poor 2011/2012 season, reaching only two quarter finals of major ranking events. His season-best performance was reaching the semi-finals of the Masters, where he lost 4–6 to Shaun Murphy. Before the start of his World Championship title defence, he admitted that his performance levels had not been good enough and that he had not been trying hard enough, managing just one or
2000 Grand Prix (snooker) 2000 Grand Prix (snooker) The 2000 Grand Prix was a professional snooker tournament and the second of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2000/2001 season, following the British Open and preceding the UK Championship. It was held from 13 to 22 October 2000 at the Telford International Centre in Telford, England. John Higgins was the defending champion, but he withdrew from his quarter-final match against Graeme Dott. Mark Williams won his 10th ranking title by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–5 in the final. Defending champion John Higgins was the number 1 seed with World Champion Mark Williams seeded 2. The remaining