John Higgins receives standing ovation for reaching milestone only one other snooker player has managed

John Higgins reached an incredible career milestone on Thursday and was given a huge standing ovation by fans acknowledging his achievement.

Earlier this week Higgins faced off against Mark Allen in a last 16 match at the English Open.

Despite losing, the Wizard of Wishaw achieved a massive career accomplishment during the match, leading to the crowd in attendance and Allen standing up to applaud him.

And with Higgins only the second player ever to achieve the feat, he has further carved his name into the history of the snooker.

After a pair of ton breaks against his opponent in the match, Higgins incredibly reached the milestone of one thousand career centuries

After an 108 earlier in the match, the Scot potted the black to score 105 in the fifth frame and the crowd instantly stood up to applaud Higgins, who thanked the crowd for the kind gesture.

Once he had a chance to sit back in his chair and take in the moment, he smiled and looked out at the crowd as his opponent joined in with the crowd's applause.

After a 32 year career, Higgins is only the second player ever to reach the milestone, behind legend of the sport Ronnie O'Sullivan who currently boasts 1,272 centuries.

Reacting to the accomplishment after the match, Higgins explained: "It's a good achievement. I've played this game for so long to get to that milestone. You have to be proud of that.

"I'm really proud. To be honest, I wanted to get there before Judd. I thought that I have a 14 year head start on him.

"It is good to be second to Ronnie O'Sullivan, the best ever. Judd will obviously go on and probably eclipse Ronnie's century record.

"I said to Mark that I was glad it was against an unbelievable player. I wouldn't have liked it to be out the back on table four against a guy ranked 100. It was great to be on the main stage against him.

"We have shared some unbelievable battles over the years and that was another one."

Higgins has won the snooker world championship on four occasions and has made 13 maximum breaks during his career.