David Taylor (born 29 July 1943)
is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
former
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
player. He won the World and English Amateur Championships in 1968, before the success of those wins encouraged him to turn professional. He was nicknamed "The Silver Fox" because of his prematurely grey hair.
Career
left, Taylor (left) with _at_an_exhibition_at_Queen's_University_Belfast">Alex_Higgins_at_an_exhibition_at_Queen's_University_Belfast,_1968.html" ;"title="Queen's_University_Belfast.html" ;"title="Alex Higgins at an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast">Alex Higgins at an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast, 1968">Queen's_University_Belfast.html" ;"title="Alex Higgins at an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast">Alex Higgins at an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast, 1968
Taylor reached three major finals, but lost them all. The first was the 1978 UK Championship in 1978 (he lost to Doug Mountjoy 9–15). Then, in 1981, he lost to Steve Davis in the 1981 Yamaha Organs Trophy, Yamaha Organs Trophy (later the British Open) 6–9, and he lost 6–9 to
Tony Knowles in the
1982 Jameson International.
The last of these was his only ranking event final; the others would be ranking events in the future but were not at the time he reached the final. In the quarter-finals of this event he beat the then World Champion, Steve Davis 5–3. Three times a defeated quarter-finalist, his best performance in the
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
was at the
1980 event, when he lost to
Cliff Thorburn
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Hi ...
7–16 in the semi-final having beaten the number one seed and 6 times World Champion
Ray Reardon
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gr ...
13–11 in the quarter-final. His only major tournament win was with Steve Davis and
John Spencer during the 1981
State Express World Team Classic for the England team.
He was a member of the elite Top 16 World Rankings for 10 consecutive years until the 1985/86 season, reaching a high of No 7 in the 1981/82 season.
He made a surprise return to enter the
2010 World Snooker Championship qualifying rounds, aged 66 but lost to
Paul Wykes
Paul Wykes (born 15 April 1971) is an English former professional snooker player from Bournemouth, Dorset. He spent 16 years on the circuit and remained in the world's top 64 for 13 years.
Career
Wykes turned professional in 1991 and achieved ...
1–5 in Match 2 on 26 February 2010.
Outside snooker
He was one of the two commentators during Steve Davis' first televised
maximum break
A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...
. After his career wound down he ran an award-winning hotel.
He currently runs Ash Farm Country Guest House with his wife in
Little Bollington
Little Bollington is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The Bridgewater Canal runs through the western side and Dunham Massey, Dunham Pa ...
near
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
.
He was the first snooker player to pot all balls in the final round of BBC snooker gameshow ''
Big Break
''Big Break'' is a British television game show, created by Roger Medcalf, Mike Kemp and Terry Mardell, presented by comedian Jim Davidson and snooker commentator John Virgo, and broadcast on BBC One between 1991 and 2002. Inspired by ITV's '' ...
''.
Performance and rankings timeline
Career finals
Ranking finals: 1
Non-ranking finals: 4 (1 title)
Team finals: 1 (1 title)
Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, David
English snooker players
People from Altrincham
1943 births
Living people