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David Taylor (snooker player)

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David Taylor
Taylor in 1968
Born (1943-07-29) 29 July 1943 (age 81)
Bowdon, Cheshire, England
Sport country England
NicknameThe Silver Fox[1]
Professional1968–1997
Highest ranking7 (1981/82)
Best ranking finishRunner-up (x1)

David Taylor (born 29 July 1943)[2] is an English former professional snooker 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.[3]

Career

[edit]
Taylor (left) with Alex Higgins at an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast, 1968

David Taylor was born on 29 July 1943 in Bowdon, Greater Manchester, and grew up in Manchester.[2][4] He started playing snooker aged 14.[4] In 1968 he defeated Chris Ross 11-6 to win the English Amateur Championship.[4] At the 1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship in Australia he won all four of his group matches, then beat Paddy Morgan in the semi-final before securing the title with an 8-7 victory against Max Williams,[5] He also recorded the highest break of the tournament, 96.[4] He turned professional on his return to the UK.[6]

In his first world championship match, at the 1970 event, he finished the first day of his match against Bernard Bennett 3–4 behind, but progressed to the quarter-finals by securing a winning margin at 11–8.[7] A match report in Billiards and Snooker magazine was critical of the standard of play by both players, and in particular about Taylor "carelessly" missing pots.[7] Facing John Pulman, Tayor was on level terms at 12-12, but Pulman proceeded to win 31–20.[8]

Taylor reached three major professional finals, but lost them all.[9] The first was the 1978 UK Championship in 1978 which he lost to Doug Mountjoy 9–15.[9] Then, in 1981, he lost to Steve Davis in the Yamaha Organs Trophy 6–9, and he lost 6–9 to Tony Knowles in the 1982 Jameson International.[10] 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.[citation needed] 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 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 13–11 in the quarter-final.

He was a member of the England team that won the 1981 World Team Classic, alongside Steve Davis and John Spencer.[11] [12]

He was a member of the elite Top 16 World Rankings for ten consecutive years until the 1985/86 season, reaching a high of number 7 in the 1981/82 season.[11]

At the end of the 1996–97 snooker season he was ranked 151st, and therefore did not qualify to automatically continue as a professional.[13]

He entered the 2010 World Snooker Championship qualifying rounds, aged 66 and playing in first competitive match for 13 years, but lost 1–5 to Paul Wykes.[14]

Outside snooker

[edit]

As of 2021, he ran a guest house with his wife in Little Bollington near Altrincham in Cheshire.[15]

Performance and rankings timeline

[edit]
Tournament 1969/
70 		1970/
71 		1971/
72 		1972/
73 		1973/
74 		1974/
75 		1975/
76 		1976/
77 		1977/
78 		1978/
79 		1979/
80 		1980/
81 		1981/
82 		1982/
83 		1983/
84 		1984/
85 		1985/
86 		1986/
87 		1987/
88 		1988/
89 		1989/
90 		1990/
91 		1991/
92 		1992/
93 		1993/
94 		1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1996/
97 		Ref.
Ranking No ranking system 16 12 13 15 9 7 8 10 16 14 21 25 28 38 33 44 104 67 104 106 151 [16]
Ranking tournaments
Hong Kong Open[nb 1] (Ranking event from 1989) Tournament Not Held Not invited 1R QF 1R Not invited NH 1R Tournament Not Held
Asian Classic[nb 2] Tournament Not Held NR 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Grand Prix[nb 3] Tournament Not Held 2R 2R 3R 2R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Canadian Masters[nb 4] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking 2R Tournament Not Held
UK Championship (Ranking event from 1984) Tournament Not Held 2R F 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
German Open Tournament Not Held LQ A
Welsh Open Tournament Not Held LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ
International Open[nb 5] (Ranking event from 1982) Tournament Not Held QF F 1R 2R 3R 3R 2R 3R LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
European Open Tournament Not Held 1R 2R LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Classic (Ranking event from 1984) Tournament Not Held A SF QF QF 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 2R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Thailand Open[nb 6] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event Not Held 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
British Open[nb 7] (Ranking event from 1985) Tournament Not Held RR F 2R 2R RR 1R 1R QF 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Strachan Open Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
World Championship (Ranking event from 1974) QF A QF 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R SF QF 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters Tournament Not Held Not invited QF Not invited 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R Not invited LQ LQ Not invited
Irish Masters[nb 8] Tournament Not Held Not invited 1R Not invited
Matchroom League[nb 9] Tournament Not Held RR Not Held Not invited
Stratford Professional NH NI F NI Tournament Not Held
Men of the Midlands Not Held RR NI Tournament Not Held
Norwich Union Open Tournament Not Held 2R NI Tournament Not Held
Watney Open Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
Holsten Lager International Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held
Tolly Cobbold Classic Tournament Not Held Not invited QF Not invited Tournament Not Held
New Zealand Masters Tournament Not Held SF Not Held Not invited Tournament Not Held
Pot Black NI RR Not invited RR RR NI 1R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held Not invited Tournament Not Held
English Professional Championship Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held QF 1R 2R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
World Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final 
align="center" style="color:#555555;" width="30"|DNQ
did not qualify for the tournament
A did not participate in the tournament NI was not invited WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
  1. ^ The event was also called the Australian Masters (1979/1980–1987/1988))
  2. ^ The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Dubai Classic (1989/1990 to 1994/1995) and Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
  3. ^ The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/93–1983/1984)
  4. ^ The event was also called the Canadian Open (1978/1979–1980/1981)
  5. ^ The event was also called the Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)
  6. ^ The event was also called the Thailand Masters (1983/1984–1986/1987) and the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993)
  7. ^ The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)
  8. ^ The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament (1974/1975–1976/1977)
  9. ^ The event was also called the Professional Snooker League (1983/1984)

Career finals

[edit]

Ranking finals: 1

[edit]
Ranking finals contested by David Taylor
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 1. 1982 International Open  Tony Knowles (ENG) 6–9 [17]

Non-ranking finals: 4 (1 title)

[edit]
Legend
UK Championship (0–1)
Other (1–2)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 1. 1971 Stratford Professional  John Spencer (ENG) 2–5 [18]
Runner-up 2. 1978 UK Championship  Doug Mountjoy (WAL) 9–15
Runner-up 3. 1981 Yamaha Organs Trophy  Steve Davis (ENG) 6–9
Winner 1. 1988 WPBSA Invitational – Event 3  Steve Meakin (ENG) 9–1 [19]

Team finals: 1 (1 title)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Team Opponents in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1981 World Team Classic  England  Wales 4–3

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship scope="col"Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1968 English Amateur Championship  Chris Ross (SCO) 11–6
Winner 2. 1968 World Amateur Championship  Max Williams (AUS) 8–7

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Jackson, Jamie (3 May 2009). "Back to the 80s when we were all snooker loopy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b Hale 1987, p. 162.
  3. ^ Morrison 1988, p. 101-102.
  4. ^ a b c d Morrison 1988, p. 101.
  5. ^ Hale 1987, pp. 296–297.
  6. ^ "Champ Taylor to Turn Pro". Manchester Evening News. 1 November 1968. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "Taylor struggles past Bennett". Billiards and Snooker. December 1969. p. 24.
  8. ^ "Pulman too solid for Taylor". Billiards and Snooker. February 1970. pp. 6–7.
  9. ^ a b Hayton & Dee 2004, pp. 938–940.
  10. ^ Hale 1987, pp. 162–165.
  11. ^ a b Lee, Roger (February 2010). "Past Masters (5): David Taylor". Snooker Scene. p. 30.
  12. ^ "World Team Classic". Snooker Scene. December 1981. pp. 5–11.
  13. ^ "WPBSA world rankings 1996–97". Snooker Scene. June 1997. pp. 28–30.
  14. ^ "Former world champions set for Crucible qualifying". BBC Sport. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  15. ^ Prior, David (28 December 2021). "Cue a new chapter for Ash Farm: B&B reveals plans for restaurant, events space and Brewdog-backed outdoor bar". Altrincham Today. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  16. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  17. ^ Hale, Janice (11 October 1982). "Knowles Captures Title". The Daily Telegraph. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Snooker champion in top form". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 September 1971. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Smith 1989, p. 90.

Books

  • Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987–88. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0356146901.
  • Hayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
  • Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker (Revised ed.). Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-600-55604-6.
  • Morrison, Ian (1988). Hamlyn Who's Who in Snooker. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-55713-5.
  • Smith, Terry, ed. (1989). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Sixth ed.). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. ISBN 978-0-7207-1944-4.
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