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 ...

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 sk ...

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. 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 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 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 (g ...

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 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 ...

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 tow ...

. He was the first snooker player to pot all balls in the final round of BBC snooker gameshow '' Big Break''.

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