Jump to content

Jonathan Birch (snooker player)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan Birch
Born (1968-02-15) 15 February 1968 (age 58)
Sport country England
Professional1990–2005
Highest ranking42 (1998–1999)
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (1993 Dubai Classic)

Jonathan Birch (born 15 February 1968) is an English former professional snooker player.

Career

[edit]

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, Dennis Taylor and Terry Griffiths en route to being whitewashed 0–5 by Stephen 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.[citation needed]

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.[1]

He defeated a declining Steve Davis 5–2 en route to losing to Ali Carter by the same scoreline in the last 32 of the 1999 Grand Prix;[2] Birch had made a 52 break in the final frame against Carter but lost it 59–69.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Performance and rankings timeline

[edit]
Tournament 1990/
91 		1991/
92 		1992/
93 		1993/
94 		1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1996/
97 		1997/
98 		1998/
99 		1999/
00 		2000/
01 		2001/
02 		2002/
03 		2003/
04 		2004/
05 		2011/
12
Ranking[nb 1] [nb 2] 55 44 44 50 63 64 45 42 53 44 50 47 48 64 [nb 3]
Ranking tournaments
UK Championship 3R LQ 1R 1R LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ A
German Masters[nb 4] Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ NR Tournament Not Held A
Welsh Open NH LQ LQ 2R LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A
World Open[nb 5] LQ 1R 1R LQ LQ 1R 2R 2R LQ 2R LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ A
Players Tour Championship Grand Final Tournament Not Held DNQ
China Open[nb 6] Tournament Not Held NR 1R LQ LQ LQ Not Held LQ A
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A
Non-ranking tournaments
Shoot Out 2R Tournament Not Held A
The Masters LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ A A A A A A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Classic 2R LQ Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open[nb 7] NH 3R MR NR Tournament Not Held
Asian Classic[nb 8] 2R 1R 1R QF LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 9] 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ NR Not Held
Players Championship[nb 10] Not Held 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ WD 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held
British Open WD LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R LQ LQ NH
Malta Cup[nb 11] LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R NH LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ NH
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
World Masters 3R Tournament Not Held
Strachan Challenge[nb 7] NH R MR LQ WD 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.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking
  3. ^ He was an amateur
  4. ^ The event was called the German Open (1995/1996-1997/1998)
  5. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (1990/1991-2000/2001 and 2004/2005), and the LG Cup (2001/2002-2003/2004)
  6. ^ The event was called the China International (1997/1998-1998/1999)
  7. ^ a b The event was called the Strachan Open (1991/1992) and the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993-1993/1994)
  8. ^ The event was called the Dubai Classic (1990/1991-1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
  9. ^ The event was called the Asian Open (1990/1991-1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994-1996/1997)
  10. ^ The event was also called the International Open (1992/1993-1996/1997) and the Scottish Open (1997/1998-2002/2003)
  11. ^ The event was called the European Open (1990/1991-1996/1997 and 2001/2002-2003/2004) and the Irish Open (1998/1999)

Career finals

[edit]

Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1993 Finnish Masters South Africa Peter Francisco 6–1

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1988 Dutch Open Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 6–2

Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1987 World Under-21 Championship England Stefan Mazrocis 5–1
Runner-up 1. 1989 World Amateur Championship Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 2–11

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Snooker - Jonathan Birch (England)". www.the-sports.org.
  2. ^ "Jon Birch Player Profile". www.snookerdatabase.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jonathan_Birch_(snooker_player)&oldid=1327630298"