John Read 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 snooker player. Read competed between the years of 1991 and 2003, with his highest ranking being 62nd in the world. His most notable tournament run was at the 1996 Malta Masters, where he was beaten in the final by Mark Davis.

Career

Read turned professional in 1991, making an immediate impact at the 1992 Asian Open; there, in only his fifth ranking tournament, he reached the quarter-finals, defeating seven players - including Fred Davis,

John Virgo John Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English former professional snooker player who has since developed a career as a snooker commentator and TV personality. Snooker career Early professional career (1973–1978) Virgo's first notable appea ...

and

Rex Williams Desmond Rex Williams (born 20 July 1933) is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams won the Wo ...

- to qualify for the final stages in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

before also eliminating Brian Morgan and

David Roe David Roe (born 11 September 1965) is a former English professional snooker player, and a four-time ranking tournament quarter-finalist. Career Roe was born on 11 September 1965 in Derby. He began his professional career for the 1986–87 snoo ...

. He could not progress any further, however, as

Joe Swail Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player from Belfast. He retired in May 2019 after being relegated from the tour. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Ch ...

whitewashed him 5–0 to reach the semi-finals. In the following year's edition of the Asian Open, Read reached the last 32, where he lost 3–5 to Nick Fruin; his only other performance of note during the 1992–93 season came in qualifying for the World Championship, where he reached the last 48. Requiring only one more win to reach the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

for the first time, he lost 9–10 to Tony Jones, finishing the season ranked 78th. Having came close to reaching his second ranking event quarter-final at the 1995 Welsh Open - where he lost 4–5 to

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addit ...

in the last 16 - Read was one of the players invited to compete in the 1996 Malta Masters in May 1996. As part of a sixteen-man field, he defeated amateur Amnuayporn Chotipong 4–0, Gary Wilkinson 4–2 and Suriya Suwannasingh 5–3 to reach the first final of his professional career. He could not capture his first title, as

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

beat him 6–3. The result in Malta did not inspire better performances during 1996–97, but in the following season, Read reached his second career quarter-final, in the 1997 Grand Prix. Ranked 70th for the season, he beat

Dean Reynolds Dean Reynolds (born 11 January 1963 in Grimsby) is an English former professional snooker player whose career spanned twenty years from 1981 to 2001. Career Before turning professional, Reynolds won the first-ever Junior Pot Black in 1981, b ...

5–3 before eliminating three consecutive players who themselves were ranked in the top 32 -

Rod Lawler Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971) is an English professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod". After turning professional in 1990, Lawler has reached one ranking tournament fin ...

5–3,

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

5–2 and

Tony Drago Tony Drago (born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 G ...

5–3 - to set up a meeting with

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

. Higgins proved too strong a challenge for Read; he scored only 48 points in a 0–5 defeat. Thanks to his efforts in the Grand Prix, Read entered the 1998/1999 season ranked within the top 64, at 62nd, but his best showing that season came at the UK Championship, where he reached the last 32 before losing 5–9 to Lawler(However, his 1st round opponent,

withdrew from the match due to exhaustion). He qualified once in his career for the final stages of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre, in the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

edition of the event. However, after beating Davis,

Neal Foulds Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Blac ...

and Morgan to qualify, he lost 4–10 in the first round to the eventual champion, Mark Williams. The 2000 World Championship was the last time Read featured at the venue stage of a ranking tournament; with poor performances in qualifying events between 2000 and 2003, he slipped from 63rd in the rankings for the 1999–2000 season to 98th at the end of 2002–03, and at that time was relegated from the main tour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, John Living people English snooker players Year of birth missing (living people)