Jonathan Birch (born 15 February 1968) 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 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.

Career

Born in 1968, Birch turned professional in 1990, and his first season was a successful one; he reached the last 16 of several tournaments, including the 1991 World Masters, where he was defeated 4–7 by Steve Longworth. He was unable to repeat this good form until 1993, when he reached the quarter-final of the 1993 Dubai Classic; there, he beat

Mike Hallett Mike Hallett (born 6 July 1959) is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. Career Hallett was born in Grimsby on 6 July 1959. Having won the national under-16 title in 1975, he turned professional in 1979. His world ran ...

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship, where he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in a ...

and

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Champion ...

en route to being whitewashed 0–5 by

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

. Birch's performances were inconsistent, but such inconsistency was enough to warrant his position as a middle-ranked 'journeyman' player; he appeared in the last 16 at the 1997 European Open in 1996–97, where again, he lost to Hendry, this time 5–3. At the end of the next season, he reached his career-highest ranking of 42nd. In the 1997 Benson & Hedges Championship, Birch played Mark Fenton in the last 128, compiling three century breaks in five frames as he beat the Welshman 5–4; Birch would progress to the quarter-final, where he lost 1–5 to another Welshman,

Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute ...

. He defeated a declining

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

5–2 en route to losing to

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached numb ...

by the same scoreline in the last 32 of the 1999 Grand Prix; Birch had made a 52 break in the final frame against Carter but lost it 59–69. Birch maintained sufficient form to hold a position within the top 50 in the rankings until 2003, but slipped to 64th at the end of the 2003/2004 season, and after dropping a further twenty places to 84th during the next, was relegated from the tour in 2005, aged 37.

References

English snooker players 1968 births Living people {{England-snooker-bio-stub