 |
 Taylor in 1968 | |
| Born | 29 July 1943 Bowdon, Cheshire, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Nickname | The Silver Fox [1] |
| Professional | 1968–1997 |
| Highest ranking | 7 (1981/82) |
| Best ranking finish | Runner-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.
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 Yamaha Organs Trophy (later the British Open) 6–9, and he lost 6–9 to Tony Knowles in the 1982 Jameson International. [2] 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 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. 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 1–5 in Match 2 on 26 February 2010. [3]
He was one of the two commentators during Steve Davis's first televised maximum break. After his career wound down he ran a hotel.
He currently runs a guest house with his wife in Little Bollington near Altrincham in Cheshire.
He was the first snooker player to pot all balls in the final round of BBC snooker gameshow Big Break .
| 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking [4] | No ranking system | 16 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 38 | 33 | 44 | 104 | 67 | 104 | 106 | 151 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asian Classic [nb 1] | Tournament Not Held | NR | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Prix [nb 2] | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 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 3] | Tournament Not Held | NR | 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thailand Open [nb 4] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| British Open [nb 5] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Non-Ranking Event | 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 | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Irish Masters [nb 6] | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matchroom League [nb 7] | Tournament Not Held | RR | Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canadian Masters [nb 8] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking | 2R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hong Kong Open [nb 9] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | NH | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classic | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strachan Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stratford Professional | NH | A | F | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Men of the Midlands | Not Held | RR | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | QF | A | QF | 2R | Ranking Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norwich Union Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Watney Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holsten Lager International | Tournament Not Held | QF | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International Open [nb 10] | Tournament Not Held | QF | Ranking Event | Not Held | Ranking Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tolly Cobbold Classic | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | QF | A | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classic | Tournament Not Held | A | SF | QF | QF | Ranking Event | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | Tournament Not Held | 2R | F | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | Ranking Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| British Open [nb 11] | Tournament Not Held | RR | F | 2R | 2R | RR | Ranking Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Zealand Masters | Tournament Not Held | SF | Not Held | A | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pot Black | A | RR | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | RR | RR | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Masters [nb 12] | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | 1R | QF | 1R | A | A | NH | R | Tournament Not Held | A | A | NH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | 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. | |||
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1982 | International Open | Tony Knowles | 6–9 |
| Legend |
| UK Championship (0–1) |
| Other (1–2) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1971 | Stratford Professional | John Spencer | 2–5 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1978 | UK Championship |  Doug Mountjoy | 9–15 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 1981 | Yamaha Organs Trophy | Steve Davis | 6–9 |
| Winner | 1. | 1988 | WPBSA Invitational – Event 3 | Steve Meakin | 9–1 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team/partner | Opponent(s) in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1981 | World Team Classic | England | Wales | 4–3 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 1968 | English Amateur Championship |  Chris Ross | 11–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 1968 | World Amateur Championship |  Max Williams | 8–7 |
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