Allan Taylor (born 28 November 1984) 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 ...

professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

player, who comes from

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

, Essex but resides in Southend. He used to work at a police station in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

, supporting the police force by studying CCTV footage. Taylor turned professional in 2013 after being the sixth highest ranked amateur on the PTC Order of Merit, winning a tour card for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons. He then remained on tour until 2019, however upon finishing outside the top 64 he lost his tour card and was unable to re-qualify for the tour through Q School. He practices and prepares in St Mary's Mens Club.

Career

Debut season

Taylor won just two matches during the 2013–14 season to end his first season on tour ranked world number 123.

2014/2015 season

Taylor lost 6–2 to

Anthony McGill Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus. McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He wo ...

in the first round of the

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan ...

. A few weeks later he beat Michael Holt 4–3 to qualify for the Indian Open, where he was defeated 4–3 by

Li Hang Li Hang is the name of: * Li Hang (footballer) (李行, born 1989), Chinese association footballer *Li Hang (snooker player) (李行, born 1990), Chinese snooker player See also * Li Gang (Song dynasty) (李綱, 1083–1140), regional commander se ...

in the first round. At the end of the season Taylor was the world number 107 which would have seen him lose his place on the tour, however he finished 62nd on the European Order of Merit which earned him one of the eight two-year cards on offer for non-qualified players.

2015/2016 season

A 5–2 win over Simon Dent and successive last frame deciders against

Stuart Carrington Stuart Carrington (born 14 May 1990) is an English professional snooker player. He practises frequently with Steven Hallworth and Ian Glover in Grimsby. In May 2011, Carrington qualified for the 2011–12 professional Main Tour as one of four ...

and

saw Taylor reach the final qualifying round for the 2015 Australian Goldfields Open in which he made a 132 break against Mark King, but lost 5–4. He could not win another match until February when, at the Welsh Open, he tasted victory at the venue stage of a ranking event for the first time in his career by defeating

Oliver Lines Oliver Lines (born 16 June 1995) is an English professional snooker player who practices at Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds. He is the son of professional snooker player Peter Lines. Career Amateur Lines switched sports from football to snook ...

4–1. Taylor lost 4–2 to Anthony Hamilton in the second round.

2016/2017 season

Taylor qualified for the

2016 Riga Masters The 2016 Kaspersky Riga Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22–24 June 2016 at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia. It was the first ranking event of the 2016/2017 season. This was the first time for whi ...

, World Open and Indian Open, but was knocked out in the first round of each. He lost in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open and Welsh Open 4–2 to

and 4–1 to

Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic player on the game's main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled over 150 competitive during his career, a ...

respectively. At the

Gibraltar Open The Gibraltar Open was a ranking snooker tournament. In 2015 it was part of the Players Tour Championship. The tournament started in 2015 and was staged at the Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar. Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 M ...

, Taylor advanced to the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time with wins over Saqib Nasir and Elliot Slessor. He moved 3–2 ahead of

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...

, but would be defeated 4–3. Taylor needed to come through Q School to remain on tour as he lost his spot at the end of the season, due to his world ranking of 86. In the last 16 of the first event he needed a snooker when 3–2 down to Daniel Ward. He got it when Ward went in-off and made a 96 in the deciding frame, before whitewashing Sean O'Sullivan 4–0 to earn a new two-year tour card.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)

References

External links

*
Allan Taylor
at ''worldsnooker.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Allan Living people 1984 births Snooker players from Liverpool Sportspeople from Basildon English snooker players